As always, all thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.
I had braces as a kid, and it wasn’t pretty. As if being twelve wasn’t awkward enough, I had braces for years, and they came with headgear.
My dad used to joke about using me to improve the TV’s reception.
Up until the point my braces were installed, I was flourishing as a novice clarinetist. I was in fifth grade, but had worked my way up to second chair in the sixth grade band. Then after my braces were installed, the orthodontist told my mom I would have to stop playing the clarinet. I was not happy.
To make things worse, all those wires and brackets ripped the insides of my cheeks to shreds, and the headgear gave me tear-inducing headaches. (more…)
Prospective kindergartners, along with their parents, shuffled and herded themselves into the little elementary school cafeteria. The room was thick with nervous energy, excitement, squirmy 5-year-olds who have not yet learned to sit still for an assembly, and information packets fanning at the summer heat.
This was just an introductory meeting – an open house for families new to the school. These children will not start school for 3 months, but school related anxiety is already starting to kick in. At least for the parents.
If you look at my daughter, you’d likely see something like this:
But as a parent, I’m more likely to see something like this:
Looking around the room, it was easy to distinguish the parents with older children, who had ushered a child through kindergarten before, from those who were encountering kindergarten as a parent for the first time. The wide-eyed, deer in the headlights look of those in that second set gave them away. Yes, I’m a first time parent of a kindergartener as well.
The information packet introduced the school, advised of upcoming getting-to-know-you playdates at the playground through the summer, and included a list of skills children would need to master in order to be ready for kindergarten.
The kindergarten readiness checklist is quite long, a couple pages, but it was helpful. It is simple things, such as the kids should know the numbers 1-10, sing the abc song, and go potty independently. Most of the items she mastered long ago, and others, we have the summer to work on. I did give her a long name to learn to spell.
On the other hand, I went through all the documents front and back and saw nothing about kindergarten readiness for parents. So help me out in the comments section. What do I need to do to get ME ready for her to go to kindergarten? What should I be prepared for.
I’m pretty confident that she’s more than ready for kindergarten. I’m not quite so sure about me.
I took this picture 4 years ago at my husband’s graduation. We were sitting there for hours waiting for the graduates to walk in and the commencement ceremony to begin.
While we were sun-baked in the bleachers, my husband was waiting in a holding area, before they allowed the graduates to ceremoniously walk in and take their seats.
Isn’t it interesting how so many of the big things often involve so much waiting? The waiting room at the ER, the doctors office, waiting to see if treatment takes hold, waiting for results.
I hate wait.
And yet I waited 25 years to finally graduate myself.
I didn’t walk at graduation, and they won’t even start mailing the diplomas until July. But I checked my transcripts, and it’s there.
I did it.
For real.
And that was the easy part.
Now, I’ve got to find a job to pay off a couple decades worth of student loans.
I’m 1877 days into this parenting gig, and I still don’t know what I’m doing. I suspect that is probably a good sign. I hope it is, anyway.
I’m so blessed that I get to spend my days with this little ray of light, and guide her as she grows.
Happy Mother’s Day. Here’s to the moms, and to everyone else who challenges and guides and comforts us as we continue to grow and evolve. And here’s to our charges, who bring light and hope and joy.
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