Two years ago I optimistically approached my children's entry into Junior Kindergarten with open arms and an ear to ear grin. They were going to meet new friends, they were going to learn awesome thing, and our daycare fees were going to diminish significantly. Everything was coming up unicorns, sparkles, and puppy dogs, until it wasn't.
In about a week a number of people I know are going to have their children entering school for the first time, and I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but your kid is probably going to be a disaster for a little while, but that's completely normal. Take a deep breath, by the time September is over all of this is going to be a new routine and you'll have earned a new parenting badge - Bravo!
What I learned During The First Month Of School
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| Jack fast asleep before dinner in the early days of JK |
- Even if your child has been in daycare since they were three months old, this is not the same as school, it will take your kiddo a while to adapt. Think about it like you're starting a new job, they're four years old and don't have nearly the number of coping skills you do as an adult.
- Your kid might cry, freak out about drop off, and regress to some serious toddler behaviour but odds are they aren't going to be the most out of sort kid in the class...and even if they are I'm betting their teacher has seen much, much worse at one time or another.
- Contact your child's teacher when you need to about their special snowflakeness, but don't overdo it. Remember your kid's kindergarten teacher also has 29 other eager beaver parents telling them in great detail about the minutia of little Bobby's bowel movements. Don't be that parent.
- You know how your kid hasn't napped for you in what feels like years? Odds are they'll fall asleep at school in the first couple of weeks of class at least once. (Don't worry most teachers think it's kinda cute).
- Your potty trained child is totally going to pee their pants (put spare clothes in their backpack just in case). Even if they don't pee their pants they'll do something ridiculous at the water table that will require a change of clothes.
- The number one way to make an enemy with your kid's teacher is to refer to kindergarten as "free daycare" - seriously some parents actually do this, which teachers naturally LOVE!
- This new adjustment is going to turn your child into a total a$$h01e most evenings for the first few weeks of school. Don't worry, odds are they're being great for their teacher and saving it all up for you, the parent!
- Even the most beautiful bento boxed lunches will go uneaten, leaving you with a ravenous child twenty minutes after their bed time. Good luck with that.
- Most of those cute backpacks in the shape of animals aren't big enough to store your kids stuff and they're totally going to break. The first year of school I skimped on backpacks and we busted three per child with wear and tear and poor sizing over the school year. Packs that are designed to meet the ergonomic needs of kids aged 4-6 (think wider instead of taller, with a front clip to keep it from sliding off their shoulders works best).
- In a year or two this will all be a memory tinted with rose coloured glasses.
As we approach grade one, my spidey senses are tingling. Change is afoot!
Good luck parents! Enjoy kindergarten, cause before you know it, it will be a memory!
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