Kindergarten is exhausting!
Originally uploaded by littlekidd

Well, Mr. "10 lbs. of flour in the 5 lb. sack" is wiped out. Adrift in a sea of unfamiliar faces; surely made to sit still and listen more than he is accustomed; the long solitary walk down the hall to the boys' bathroom... all of these things combine to make kindergarten a very tiring place! Here he is sound asleep just minutes after arriving home from Day 3. His friends called from soccer wondering why he wasn't there. I decided to let him sleep.


Zack just finished a year in full-day PreK, with longer days than he has now. He left school there with energy to burn. I've never seen him like this. He staggers out the school door at 3pm with no interest in playing on the playground. I never imagined he'd be SO tired at the end of the day. "But Mom," he says, "Kindergarten is good... just different than PreK."

I think he likes it. Being alone in a new room full of strangers has got to be hard. It's like being in a foreign country. Part of me wishes he had just one of his longtime friends with him this year. The bigger part of me knows he will click right in with some new kids soon.

Needless to say, we're taking a break from afternoon activities until he builds up some stamina for this new routine.

(Later)
Zack woke up from his nap with a 101-degree fever. Sometimes the simplest explanations are the hardest to see. I guess Day 4 of Kindergarten will be a day of R and R after all.

The First Day
Originally uploaded by littlekidd

Zack had his first day of kindergarten yesterday. We both have had butterflies in our stomachs since we came home from Jackson, waiting for this day. The day before he had a 1x1 meeting with his teacher, Mrs. Hudson. He had a chance to lay eyes on the classroom then. After that, we both relaxed a little.

Even though Zack spent a full day every day in PreK last year, this year's transition is a particularly big deal. We are at a new school. All of Zack's good friends who came with us to this school are in other classrooms (There are four full-time kindergartens! It's big!). We have a couple of acquaintances in our new classroom, but we don't KNOW anybody. So, we're poised to make a whole bunch of new friends!

Zack's teacher seems super nice. She reminds us a little bit of Kate, who was his nanny when he was a baby. Mrs. Hudson also has two sons, one of whom is named Zach! I think it's a good omen.