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The Ups and Downs of Back-To-School Week

We survived the first day of school! Before it started, I was so worried about getting up early and the morning rush to be on time. But what I didn’t realize until the first day was that, as of 7:15 am, I am by myself to face the day head on. We loved our leisure mornings when preschool didn’t start until 9, but it sure is efficient to be solo so early now. (That is until my life does a 180 in October!!!) I’m using this time as efficiently as I can for now. One of my big goals is to do some dinner prep during the daytime, and I haven’t decided yet if I’d rather do that in the 8:00 hour or after lunch. I’m thinking after lunch when my kitchen is already messy from lunch making. Hmm…

Zooming back to earlier this week, Grammie and Pea went with us to Mazen’s open house on Monday. He’s been on-and-off nervous about the new school and we had some “I don’t want to go” moments before every school-related event, but once he’s there he’s totally fine.

Touring the music room / stage / auditorium!

Playground time at the end was a hit. He is so strong he can climb the fire poles straight up!

My mom was pleased to find a copy of her book in the school library!

At home, we were hanging in the basement when I saw something black on the baseboard.

Turns out it was a tiny SNAKE!!!!! Despite the fact that it was only about five inches long, its movements sent chills through my spine. Mom was brave enough to catch it in a mason jar (even when it coiled up to try to strike her!) and dad released it at the back of the yard. I was freaking out the whole time and spent the next few days looking for more (don’t baby snakes live in nests?!) I imagine he crawled in some hole or crack, but I sure hope there are not more. Dad said it was a yellow ring-neck and was not poisonous. Either way, I’m glad I was not home alone when it was spotted!

On a more positive note, I’ve been loving garden heirloom tomato + cheddar sandwiches. This one also had avocado and pickles! I had this two days in a row along with the Garden of Eatin’ Lime chips, which are fantastic, and red pepper strips.

Matt took Mazen shoe shopping and came home with these awesome light-up Sketchers. (Don’t worry – they only light up when manually pressed so they are not a distraction unless activated by a human.) Con: They have laces. So add shoe-lace tying to our “things to learn” list!

We had a great B2S block party with our neighbors on Monday night. Pizza, salad, watermelon and a whole lotta kids running around! That’s the lemon, currant, arugula pizza from Whole Foods. It’s the best!

The day before school started, I went on a crazy organization bender. I think a combination of the chaos of summer, the yearn for school routine, Mazen’s upcoming birthday, and my nesting instinct created the perfect storm in my brain. I didn’t sit down for 10 hours! (And as a result, my pregnant back ached for two days 🙁 )

I did a massive toy overhaul and cleaned out Mazen’s closet. Look at all that white space! (I also cleaned out my closet and several other problem areas in the house.)

Toys went in several categories:

  1. Mazen’s current favorites (in his closet, treasure box, and in baskets in the basement family room);
  2. Toys Mazen loved but has outgrown to be saved for Brother (stored in our toy/game closet); and
  3. Toys Mazen never really played with and has outgrown (donated to the preschool and Goodwill).

I am pretty good at knowing what he will notice has been relocated and what he will not, because I see what he plays with on a daily basis, but I generally tuck the toys away for a week to see if he asks for anything. Worst-case scenario: We can buy it again!

Books went into similar categories:

  1. Current favorites (in his book crate in his room)
  2. Baby books (now in the nursery)
  3. Favorite toddler books (on a shelf ready for Brother)
  4. I Can Read books (ready when Mazen shows interest in them; on a shelf downstairs)
  5. All others and baby/toddler books that were never big hits – donated to the school

We have read every book in our house at least once and there were SO MANY! Hundreds! If any are missed, we will go to the library : )

And Christmas books were tucked into our Christmas storage in the attic.

I found several back to school books that were perfect for reading at bedtime all week.

Legos were sorted too! (Pieces and instructions are in bins stored under the train table)

Found at the back of Mazen’s closet :mrgreen:

By the end of my organization day I had walked 5 miles inside my house – ha!

The night before the first day I made chicken, cheese, and arugula quesadillas and cornmeal baked okra.

Getting up around 6:15 wasn’t too hard, actually. Thomas is up in the 5:00 hour so he’s been great to help get Mazen up while I get up and get dressed. M didn’t want much breakfast on the first day and was quite nervous until our awesome neighbors (who are going into third and first grades along with their kindergarten sister) came over to get Mazen. He instantly perked up, thank goodness. I do not know what we would have done without them!

The bus stop was filled with excitement and the kids were full of energy. We met two other families there, so it’s quite the bunch of kiddos! When the bus finally arrived, the boys raced on and Mazen didn’t even say goodbye! I got a little glimpse of a wave through the tinted windows. It was sort of sad when the bus pulled away, and I wondered how he was doing all day. The day went great though! He has an awesome teacher and several friends in his class.

I couldn’t resist doing a school-by-year collage – look at how he’s grown up!

2s class (about to turn 2)

3/4s class (about to turn 3)

Pre-K (about to turn 4)

Transitional K (about to turn 5)

Real K!! Almost 6!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. I can’t get over how big Mazen has gotten! I still remember reading your pregnancy announcement! My son is obsessed with dinosaurs… Can I ask where you found his orange shirt? 🙂

    Reply

  4. Hi Kath!

    I love watching M grow up, my son is a few months older and it’s fun getting new ideas. One tip I’ve got for shoe laces is replace them with lock laces. I know from various field trip chaperoning gigs that it is hard to have one adult constantly trying to tie multiple laces, especially if they’re not great at it yet. Good luck, kindergarten was so much fun, it’s really amazing what they learn in a year!

    Reply

    • I have some in my Amazon cart just in case! Going to give it a week or two and see. I agree though – he either has to learn or the tie laces get postponed

      Reply

    • I’ve used similar laces in the past and will definitely go this route if tying becomes too much trouble. Thanks

      Reply

  6. Could you share your thoughts on transitional kindergarten and what made you decide to do it? My son next year will be turning 5 on August 1st and I’m debating having him do transitional kindergarten for a year before he starts “real school.” He’s always been the youngest in his daycare classes and I can see the difference sometimes between him and the older kids. Any advice would be great :)!

    Reply

    • I polled 100 moms of young and old kids and NO ONE regretted holding them back a year, but quite a few had regretted sending them early (at 4.99 or just over 5). The feedback was mostly about maturity, not just in kindergarten itself (I think Mazen would have been fine going at 5) but the concern was more towards the middle school and high school years and the rate at which boys mature then. I was also always the oldest in my class and loved it, so in my opinion the ONLY con was paying for another year of preschool. (My sister argued that we could pay that back and more in tutoring or behavioral solutions for sending him early, so that could be a wash.) I think holding him back was definitely the right choice for him.

      Reply

  8. So so cute! Man how he’s grown! It’s so great to hear he had a great first day. My favorite thing of back-to-school when I was a kid was the new school supplies and opportunity to organize my binders and backpack. hahah

    Reply

  9. Phonetically kindergarten is normally pronounced with a /d/ sound at the end. You are not wrong. It would be /kIndergardEn/. Just because you pronounce it as /d/ does not make it wrong, it just makes it how you pronounce it. Does that make sense? We all pronounce things differently. We also often truncate vowels, turning them into shorter vowels. Again, does not make it wrong.

    Reply

    • Ok I got so confused earlier when I was saying it aloud both ways!! I couldn’t tell which was right! Like I said, the English language is not my strongest subject 🙂

      Reply

  10. Oh man those pictures of Mazen at every stage are a heart-breaker! My son is in his last year of Pre-K this year and starts real K next year and he will also be almost 6, so it’s like looking forward a little for me!

    Reply

  13. I have been reading your blog since long before Mazen was in the 2’s class! I just wanted to commend you on your decision for Transitional K for a boy with a late birthday. I teach Pre-First, which is an extra year at my school between kindergarten and first grade for those who need it. It’s the gift of time for maturity and development, and often those younger ones end up in my class. I have yet to meet a parent who regrets sending their child to school a little bit older, more mature, and street smart. Hope Mazen LOVES kindergarten!

    Reply

  14. So sweet! I’m so glad he had a good first day. He’s gonna be a lady killer! so handsome, that Mazen!

    I think you’ll grow to love that early start!

    Reply

  16. I am wondering how Mazen is doing with the shift in his sleep schedule? How much sleep does he get, and is he able to shift his bedtime earlier to adjust? My kids are so attached to their particular bedtimes and wake times.

    Reply

    • He actually has done really really well! It was really only an adjustment by about 45 minutes, and so I think the excitement of school really helped

      Reply

  17. Our son was born right around Mazen , 9-11-12, and we held him back as well. He did pre-k 5, a few family members argued that he was “so smart” but we knew it had to do more with maturity than academics. Also, I am kind of jealous your schools dress is so relaxed. Most schools in the south are uniform based and if they aren’t, they are “no laces till they can tie themselves” and “no light up or overly distracting shoes.”

    Reply

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