I'm sure you all are right - I'll bet schools have seen all kinds of nutty behavior and known kids from all types of lifes.
I still don't know much about kids but I'm learning. Most people Mo spends time with tell he how polite and well spoken he is so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will be that nice little boy who heads off to school. I really do think that most of his "cross" (his word) behavior is aimed at me and I suppose that is as it should be.
He is officially enrolled! I think I gave them just enough information for it to give them a heads up without being an alarmist.
Going up to the school was very exciting for him. I think he is really looking forward to it. He has been filling all the neighbors in on it!
Quote:I really do think that most of his "cross" (his word) behavior is aimed at me and I suppose that is as it should be.
Of course this is as it should be. He trusts you with his anger. (Mind, some days it is difficult to feel honored by this trust.)
Disturbed kids who can't trust their families act out to strangers. Nice normal kids inconvenience the people they love the most. Unfortunately, so do nice, normal adults.
You can say that again!
Lordy lordy. This experience has been.... something else.
I am learning that when faced with the necessary beauty of releasing something you love into the wild that it is easy to become overwhelemed with doubt.
Have I prepared him for the adventure?
Can I still eat lunch in the tree house?
I was feeling a bit abnormal.
And a bit foolish about that last post.
Then my friend and neighbor "Toni" came over and redeemed me.
When I told her that I had spent the last two days dealing with enrolling Mo the first thing she said was "God. Aren't you going to miss him?"
Holy cow!
It really made it sink in that so many people have said "I'll bet you'll be relieved" and such things and I smile and nod and say "Oh yeah" because I think it is expected that we don't want to be around our kids so much.
I confess:
I look forward to free time.
I look forward to him expanding.
I look forward to his world going bang.
But God I'm going to miss him.
Sure.
Will it be all day or half day? We're lucky enough to have a choice, and I chose half-day (with sozlet's input), for that reason. Everyone I talked to (I wasn't sure which to choose) was emphasizing that she "could handle" all day, and I'm sure she could, but why rush things? First grade will be here soon enough.
I think I remember boomer saying it was half-day, soz.
It's only three hours or so, Boomer. He'll be back with you sooner than you imagine, telling you all the thrilling things that happen every day.
I don't remember who was more excited about my son starting kindergarten...him or me.
Oh! Another wonderful thing about Mo starting school. You will have so many opportunities to meet other parents and talk to teachers about kids Mo's age. You will learn all sorts of things, and it will make you more confident as a parent.
I'm looking forward to hearing all the stories that Mo brings home from school. Please post them for us!
A favorite from my memory....
One day I was driving SonofEva home from kindergarten. From the back seat, he casually says, "Momma, I can count to ten."
I say, "Of course you can, honey."
He starts counting, "Uno, dos, tres, quatro, cinco, seis...."
I had to stop the car. "WHEN did you learn THAT?!" I turned around and stared at him.
He had the biggest grin on his face.
"Gotcha!" he says, and laughs all the way home.
Honestly, I don't think I'm a sMother. Mo is pretty much a free range kid who has learned to take a few knocks as we've found that.... ahem.... experienced based learning serves him best.
I guess it just baffles me that so many people seem to think that getting their kid out and away serves some kind of .... I don't know.... goal. I like spending time with Mo.
I am excited for him and I am excited for me too.
He has decided that he is a "big kid" now that we have visited the school and that is very cool.
That IS very cool, boomer!
(BTW, I never thought you were the smothering kind at all. Just naturally anxious, as we all are at this point. Goes with the territory.)
I still like spending time with my son, whenever I can get it. Enjoy it while you can. They get busier and busier.
I agree with Eva, boomer I don't see you as smothering either, but I
know exactly where you're coming from. Biological mothers don't have all the answers either, however, it seems - we adoptive mothers, are more unsure of certain decisions and like to get reassurance more often.
It took me a few years to realize that my decisions are as good, if not
better, than the ones from biological mothers (in my circle).
Boomer--
Worry is not a synonym for smothering.
Mothers who don't worry lack either love or imagination.
All of these emotions sound very familiar. When the ducklet started kindergarten, I was physically proud of him (that's the only way I can think to describe it). But I had doubts about whether I had prepared him for it. I had done almost nothing for him academically. Now I'm pretty sure that it was the right thing to do for him. He had several years of care-free exploratory learning which have made him an active learner.
About being "cross" Mo with you only, as others have said, that's a very healthy sign that securely attached to you. It sounds like he'll be great there. Good going!
Noddy!
Eureka!
I think I've hit on the whole "touch the ear" gambit - it is a test to see if their arms are long enough to wipe their own butts!
Now I just need to figure out how to get him to do that. Girls I think are used to having to wipe because they ALWAYS have to wipe. Boys are kind of a once a day wipers so he doesn't get much practice.
Yeah, FreeDuck, I'm right there with you on the academic stuff. We haven't done much of that kind of thing at all. But Mo sometime surprises me with what he does know. When I went through the school's checklist I checked off a lot of stuff he seems to already know or know how to do. It is the fine motor skills - holding a pencil, coloring more than a scribble, writing his name - that he lags behind on.
Boys are always behind girls in fine motor skills, boomer.
Did I tell you the story about my son writing his name in kindergarten?
His name is not actually SonofEva...it's Christopher. Eleven letters was too much for him at first, so he decided he'd just go with "Chris." After a couple of months, I wanted him to learn how to spell his whole name, so we began practicing. I told him he didn't have to write the whole thing at school if he couldn't remember it, but just write as much as he could remember.
For the next month, he brought home papers signed "Christ."
