My Kindergartner – 3 Months Later

We successfully made it through the first week of Kindergarten.  And the 13 more that followed after.  There were no tears, not (much) of a fuss, and after a few funny stories later he is quite comfortable in his new surroundings and acting like he has been going to school for years. 

After completing a quarter of the year, he is excelling in his school work and it doesn’t appear that the common core curriculum has had a negative impact on him (at least not yet).  I’m still quite nervous about all the work that is and will be thrown at him between now and June, but he’s been a trooper thus far and is absorbing everything in stride.  We had our very first parent teacher conference last month and he got a glowing report.  He is (thankfully) minding his manners and listening very well, which I was both happy & slightly surprised about considering he has been completely the opposite at home recently.

Since school began in September we’ve noticed a negative behavioral change in Anthony.  He’s become much more defiant than his usual five-year-old self and no matter what we ask of him (even simple questions like “please get dressed”) are answered with “I don’t wanna” or simply “no” which ultimately leads to an argument.  In talking to some of the other Kindergarten moms who are experiencing the same situation with their kids, we’ve attributed this new attitude change to the constant listening that he is doing all day combined with the stressfulness of all the work that is being asked of him as part of the common core.  Between school and his after school program, he is following someone else’s rules from 9 am to 5 pm.  By the time he comes home he’s just had enough and is taking out his frustrations on us.

In the last 3 months we’ve seen a slight improvement in his grumpiness, but we’re hoping that it will just take a little more time for him to adjust and for our sweet boy to return.  I’m honestly on the fence on how to reprimand him for this behavior because part of me feels like it’s not his fault that he’s being overworked but at the same time I need to address it so that he knows his behavior it’s not acceptable.   Who knew Kindergarten was going to bring with it such challenges!

Kindergarten School Picture

An Interview with a Five Year Old

We were having a little fun this weekend and I decided to interview my five year old to see what kind of answers came out of him.  The results were pretty funny.

What’s your name?   Anthony

How old are you?   Five

Who is your best friend?   Tyler

What is your favorite food?   Tacos

What is your favorite animal?   A Lion because it has big teeth and eats the Zebras

What is your favorite color?   Blue

What is your favorite tv show?  Lab Rats

What is your favorite movie?  Monsters, Inc.

Who is your favorite person?   My Mom & Dad and Layla (my dog)

What does Mommy do for work?   Works on the computer

What does Daddy do for work?   Works on the computer and they have a cooking area at his job

What do you want to be when you grow up?  A superhero (Superman to be exact)

What do you love to do for fun?  Play with my best friend Tyler

Who is your favorite Superhero?  The Avengers

A Letter to my Son on Kindergarten Eve

To my number one man,

Only five short years ago we brought you home from the hospital and tomorrow you will embark on a whole new journey. While maybe it shouldn’t be that big of a deal since you’ve been attending an all day program since you were 17 months old, tomorrow morning marks a different kind of a milestone.  You will start your academic career which (I hope) will last for the next 14+ years.  I am such a mixed ball of emotions tonight as I sit here and listen to you sleep.

Excited:  I’m excited for all of the new things you are going to see, hear and learn.

Sad:  Truth is, it makes me a little sad to see my baby boy growing up so fast.  Tomorrow may only be the first day of kindergarten but it snuck up on me so quickly that I can only imagine how fast your elementary school years will fly by.

Nervous:  I know what a caring & gentle soul you are and I am nervous that others won’t treat you right and that bullies will try to take advantage of you.  I know that you need to learn for yourself who to listen to and how to stick up for yourself but the protective mother in me wants to shield you from all of that.

Proud:  Our hearts are just bursting with pride when we think of just how successful you will be.  You are growing up to be a sensitive, strong, independent, talented little man, who spreads joy to everyone who spends time with you.

I know we can’t protect you from everything.  You will have good days, and bad days.  You will get tempted to make bad decisions.  Not everyone will want to be your friend and there will be times when your feelings will get hurt.  I will help to soothe your broken heart and do my best to arm you with the tools you need to make your own decisions.

Always do your very best and treat others with respect.  Remember your manners but don’t forget to come home and hug me tight every day after school (until you graduate from college).

I love you to the moon & back.

 

 

Countdown to K has begun!

Look what showed up in my mailbox yesterday...

 

 

 

My first reaction was “WHAT????  already?!?”  Then I looked at the calendar and realized it was almost August.  My big man starts Kindergarten in 46 days.   OMG!!  I guess I have been in a little bit of denial that this is really happening, but it’s COMING. and coming FAST!  He sat at our dining room table last night flipping through it picking out the backpack he wants (transformers) and new markers, lunchbox, etc. 

 

We may still be waiting for his teacher assignment, but we’ve got the supplies list and he said he’s ready to get on the bus and head off to the “big kid school” (as he calls it).  He might be ready but I don’t know how ready I am….  Even though he’s been going to “school” since he was 17 months old this is going to be different.  Taking the bus…having homework…making new friends…being in a bigger class environment.  I’m both excited and a little nervous for him at the same time. 

 

For now though, I'm not thinking about that.  We’ll just stick to some back to school shopping and try to hit the stores a bit early before everything gets sold out.

The Money Motivator

Now that A is turning 5 we thought it was about time that he could start earning an allowance and do consistently do more chores around the house.  Money has proven to be a big motivator for him (it helped with potty training!) so why not use an allowance to help motivate him to get his chores done around the house. 

We decided on using a punch card system for him to earn his allowance rather than giving him just a weekly rate.  For every chore he completes he earns a punch in his card.  Once the card is full he can turn it in for his allowance ($5).  He can also earn extra punches for extra good behavior or for doing something extra special.  My thinking was that it would motivate him even more (to get the punches) and if he decided to skip a chore or behaved poorly that day, then he doesn’t earn a punch for his chore.  He will (hopefully) feel the consequences being it will only take longer to fill the punch card and earn his allowance. 

The punch card itself looked pretty easy to make and I had started to try my hand at it on the computer.  But I got frustrated after about an hour and decided to chuck it and purchase them (cheap) from this seller on Etsy.

A is pretty excited to get started and to start earning his own money.  I told him that he needs to save half of it and the other half he can spend on whatever he wants.  Here’s a brief list of the chores that he will be responsible for and the frequency.  Not every chore will be every day.

• cleaning his room (daily or as needed)
• feeding the dog (daily)
• clearing his dirty dishes after meal times (daily)
• cleaning up toys in the playroom (daily)
• putting away wii remotes when done playing (as needed)
• helping to empty the dishwasher (couple times a week)
• helping load the laundry in washer/dryer (couple times a week)

 

Cowabunga Dudes!

When I asked my son a few months ago what kind of theme he wanted for his 5^th birthday party I got a a different answer depending on the day of the week it was.  Agengers….Transformers….Phineas & Ferb…..Super Mario Brothers….  Until finally he settled on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. (they're baaack!)  This past Saturday we hosted 18 little ninja turtles at a local nature preserve to celebrate Anthony’s 5^th birthday.  And what a party it was!! 

The naturalist at the center showed the kids some of the rescued animals they care for; including a snake, rabbit, and a ferret.  She also had items available for them to touch and explore like a turtle shell, deer skin and a snake skin.  Then we all went outside to look at the eagles and hawks and to play some animal themed games.  By the end of the hour session everyone was more than ready for pizza and cupcakes!!

Invitations and thank you notes I created myself using GIMP software (it's free!) and printed out on cardstock via Vistaprint.  I drew inspiration from this invitation I found on pinterest.  The thank you cards I made to match the invitation and made up the saying inside based on what a ninja turtle might say ;)

 

 

I was surprised at how difficult it was to find paper goods.  Maybe because the cartoon is so new that products haven’t made it into mainstream party stores yet, but I couldn’t even find them online when I was trying to order ahead of time (me being the planner that I am).  I finally found all of the paper goods at Target less than a month before the party (phew!!)  I even found masks on clearance!  Double score!!

 

 

My son may be one of the few kids on earth that does not like cake.  S(hocking, I know)  He prefers fruit or crunchy snacks over sweets.  For his school party I sent in an array of crunchy snacks for him to share with his friends, but for his party I felt like we needed a traditional cake or cupcakes.  But since I wasn’t sure if he was going to eat any, I figured why not save some money and try my hand at making cupcakes this year.  So off to google and pinterest I went in search of a vanilla cupcake recipe.  If I was going to make them, then I was going to do it from scratch.  I settled on Magnolia’s Vanilla Cupcake recipe.  Very easy and turned out delicious!  I even added some candy bits into the batter to make it more of a ‘funfetti’.  I then decorated them to look like ninja turtles – which was surprisingly quite easy.  I tinted the icing using green gel food coloring, the candy eyes were store bought, used fruit by the foot/fruit roll ups for the eye masks and used black gel icing to draw the mouth. I used these as my inspiration (from pinterest of course).

 

For the favors I knew a long time ago that I wanted to package whatever it was that I gave out in a pizza box.  Because ninja turtles love…..what else, but PIZZA!  Our local pizza place was nice enough to give me the pizza boxes for free (yay!) and I created the label in powerpoint, printed out and glued onto the boxes.   I found inspiration for the label via pinterest but decided to recreate the design myself so that I could print in a larger size than the seller was offering. 

 

I loved the idea of giving out a single item to the kids.  In the long run it probably cost about the same or minimally more as a goody bag full of lots of little stuff but honestly, the little stuff typically gets thrown away by a lot of parents a few days after the party (I know I’m guilty of it).  Finding 20 of the same t-shirt in varying sizes proved a challenge, but I ultimately found them online at The Children’s Place.  Boys got Ninja Turtle t-shirts and the girls got green shirts with hearts.

 

 

All of the ninja turtles who attended had a fantastic time and most of all the birthday boy had the best 5^th birthday!!  The joy on his face that day made all of the preparations and time I spent planning completely worth it.

 

Happy Birthday my Big Man!

 

 

 

Fabulous Five

Friday, April 11, 2008  3:47 pm

Wow, five years.  It’s a bit incomprehensible that five whole years have gone by since that rainy Friday afternoon when I held a little peanut of a boy in my arms for the first time as we welcomed him into our lives.  Four was a much more kind age to us than three or two ever were.  Anthony went through a LOT of maturing this past year.  Not to say that the last 12 months were all puppy dogs and rainbows, but we noticed a positive difference in some of his behaviors as compared to a year before.

 Dear Anthony,

Such a bright, caring & funny kid you are!!  You amaze me more and more with every day that goes by and I am so very lucky that god chose me to be your Mommy.  You have such a kooky sense of humor and a laughter that is just infectious.  Keep telling jokes and being silly.  The world can always use a dose of silliness. 

As I look at you now, there are certain things I admire about you.  Your generosity for one.   I am always amazed at the way you share with others.  Toys, food, crayons...whatever.  At only five years old you are already putting the feelings of others before yours.  I am simply in awe of you for that.  You are constantly thinking of your friends/family and what they might like to have.  You have a kind, gentle soul that is wise beyond its years.

This coming year brings with it so much newness.  A new school.  new friends.  new experiences. I will try my hardest to show you the right path, but I am bound to make mistakes. Please forgive me for them.  I see so much of myself in you and at times I want to shield you from the world so that you don’t get hurt.  But I need to keep reminding myself that you need to go through these experiences (like I did) so that you can grow to be the best man you can be.  I’m so proud of the boy you’ve grown into in the short 5 years that I’ve know you.  

Happy 5th Birthday to the pint sized man who completes my world!!!

I love you to the moon & back,

Mommy

xoxo  



photo credit:  Dan Stockfield

Photo Credit:  Dan Stockfield

Photo Credit:  Dan Stockfield

Wordless Wednesday: a determined helper

Wordless Wednesday: Playdate Weekend!

Wordless Wednesday: Oh, Boys & their Toys

The K Word

It brings tears to my eyes just thinking of it….kindergarten.  How did this sneak up on me so fast?!?!  Wasn’t he just crawling and sleeping in a crib??  School applications are available starting today and I have no idea how I’m going to fill it out without it getting tear stained.  I know he has to grow up at some point but I’m just not ready to have my baby get on a bus and head off to school.  You’d think that it would be easier considering he’s been in full time daycare (and now preschool) since he was 17 months old but somehow the K word is hitting me differently than I expected.  It’s the new teachers, new surroundings and a school of 625 kids.  Yes, our district is THAT big – and this school is just pre-K and K!!  Oh and of course the bus ride to/from school. 

 

Educational wise, he's ready and has been for a while.  He's an extremely bright kid so on one hand I'm excited for him to go and start learning new things.  On the other hand, the "mom" side of my brain is worried for him.  Will he easily make new friends?  Will he get picked on?  I have so many thoughts floating through my head already and I know it will only get more intense over the next 9 months.  I’m trying not to psych myself out just yet (since I have plenty of time for that) but now that the process has begun I’m already dreading that day in September.

 

End of Year Teacher Gift Ideas

It’s that time of year again - school is ending and camp is starting.  A couple weeks ago I found out that my son’s preschool teacher was leaving to pursue her teaching career in the local school district.  While I’m happy for her, I’m sad to see her go.  A had gotten attached to her over the past year and he still has one more year in this room before moving on to kindergarten.  He’ll have time to transition to his new teacher over the summer “camp” session but it won’t be the same without her.

To say goodbye to her I was looking for something a little more special than just the typical gift card.  A couple days ago when I was surfing around facebook late at night I came across it.  An etsy seller that I’ve previously bought hand stamped jewelry from (My Belle Boutique) was advertising a new necklace design she had done for teachers.  Perfect!!  I quickly snatched one up at 11:30 pm and am praying it arrives before his teacher’s last day on June 28^th.  (Link to the necklace is here)

For his other two teachers (assistant teacher & aide) I’m going with the standard gift card, but with a little twist.  A friend of mine recently told me that you can personalize gift cards through the Dunkin Donuts web site.  You can add a picture and even a short message.  The cards come in a greeting card of your choosing and are shipped directly to you for only 45 cents!  The greeting card portion is an additional $4.50 on top of the gift card, but if you were going to buy a card anyway you would have spent $3-$4.  It was super easy to create and the cards were shipped the next day.  A really great gift idea for teachers that is a little different from the every day gift card.

Can you tell me how to get?

….how to get to Sesame Place? 

Last weekend we took our first trip to Sesame Place.  I haven’t been there since I was a kid myself and with the exception of one area it is completely different from what I remember.  We went with my sister and her family and had a BLAST!!  At first A was a bit hesitant about going on rides and preferred to walk around & scope everything out.  But once he got up the courage to go on a few rides he loved it.  His favorite part was playing the carnival games.  He played well and we are now the proud owners of 5 new stuffed animals :-/  Sesame Place has water rides as well as dry rides, but the water was cooooold and the weather a little windy so we didn’t spend too much time on the water activities. 

We stayed overnight so were able to spend a few hours in the park the night before (when it was empty) and then the whole day on Saturday.  On Saturday morning we had tickets to eat breakfast with the characters.  Both A and my nephew were a bit afraid of the characters but we managed to get some pictures and have a fun breakfast.  The best part of the weekend (and something we didn’t know when we planned the trip) was that it was superhero weekend.  How perfect for us, right?!  Super Why was there to take pictures and of course my little superhero dressed up as one of his favorite superheros all weekend and got his picture with Super Why and Princess Presto.

If you are planning a trip to Sesame anytime soon here are a few tips that I recommend that we learned from our trip:

1. If you decide to stay overnight splurge for the little bit extra it is to stay in the hotel that is across the street from the hotel (Sheraton Bucks County).  It’s worth it to be able to go back & forth during the day with the kids to take naps, etc.  There’s also a hotel shuttle that will take you to/from the park. (FYI they are building a new hotel that is in the parking lot of the park.  It’s schedule to open in July/August 2012)
2. Sign up for “Discovery Dollars” at the beginning of the day.  You use your credit card to link to a spending account and you are issued a waterproof bracelet to wear all day.  You then use the bar code on the bracelet to scan all over the park to make purchases all day.  This way you can lock up your belongings in a locker & not worry about carrying them all day.
3. DO the character breakfast.  The park doesn’t open until 10 am.  I don’t know about you, but A is up at 6 am and there was no way I was going to be able to entertain a 4 year old for 4 hours before the park opens - especially when he’s looking out the window at the park.  Breakfast is at 8:45 and this gets you in early before the park opens (score!!)
4. DON’T bother with Preferred parking unless you have a season pass.  I have a season pass so preferred parking was free.  However, the rear of the preferred parking section is just as far as the regular parking lot so there’s no difference for the extra $$ you’re paying for preferred.
5. The park was much smaller than I expected.  My 4 year-old and my almost 3 year-old nephew walked the entire time and didn’t need a stroller.  We packed our things in backpacks and just went.  Was so much easier than trying to navigate with the stroller or worry about parking it, etc.  If you have slightly older kids it may be easier to ditch the stroller (or at least leave it in the car just in case).
6. Line up early for the parade.  It’s awesome and worth it to be front and center.
7. Download the iphone/android app.  You can even track where the characters are within the park to find your favorites!
8. Check out what’s in each of the restaurants before you dine.  The food is just okay, but check on the map (or your app) for what is served in each of the restaurants before you go.  Some have a better selection than others.

G is for Glasses

My husband and I both wear glasses. Almost everyone on both sides of our families wear glasses.  So….we didn’t have high hopes that our son would escape unscathed. 

When I took A to his 4 year physical his pediatrician did a simple eye exam, which my son proceeded to fail miserably :(  I had no idea that an eye exam was part of this visit and I had actually come prepared to ask his doctor when we should take him to the ophthalmologist.  Of course as soon as he failed she referred us to see one immediately.  I got him an appointment within the next week or two and the doctor told us he had a bad astigmatism and needed to wear glasses.

What surprised me the most wasn’t so much that he needed glasses (we knew he was probably going to need them eventually) but that we saw no outward signs that he was having difficulty seeing.  There was no squinting, no complaining that things were blurry and his teachers saw no signs either.  It’s probably because he didn’t know what he was seeing was blurry - to him it was all normal.  When he put on his glasses for the first time my heart broke just a little as he turned to me and said “Mommy, everything is so clear!”  It pains me to think about how he’s been going through life looking through a blurry piece of glass. 

It’s only been 3 days and I’m amazed at how well he’s adjusted.  Barely any complaints and he’s good about taking them off for nap time and bed time.   When he went to school yesterday his teachers told him he looked like Clark Kent, which of course made my little superhero very, very happy.   I’m sure it’s because he realizes how much keeping them on helps him, but whatever the reason is I’m not complaining and hope it continues.

not so happy at the eye doctor

our little Clark Kent!

a celebratory hibachi dinner to celebrate his new specs!!

now he looks even more like daddy!!

Mommy and A have matching pairs