It's been nice to spend the one-on-one time with N. these last two days. I have a rough outline of what I'd like to get done each day, and we were able to get through her work well before A. returned from school. Today she and I had to drive over to pick up our district's form so she can homeschool (another long story, but one I'm not going to get into), and then went to Starbucks at B&N together to do school. That was a nice change of pace. She also picked out a new book that she's had her nose buried in for most of the day (from the Warriors manga trilogy - cat fantasy stuff). In spite of the fact that she's shutting out the rest of the world while she's absorbed in it, I really can't complain - it's pretty exciting to see, actually. While we waited for A's bus to drop him off after school, N. did math out in the driveway. I had her write out the skip counting for 2s and 3s (I drew blank lines on the ground, filling in a couple, and having her figure out the pattern). Then I called out multiplication problems, and had her jump on the answers. We've got to take advantage of the last of the summer weather while we have it!
So my thoughts on yesterday.... My first thought after I put my boy on the big yellow bus was "I can't believe I just let my baby leave with that big hairy man who I know nothing about!" If a big hairy guy drove up in a van and offered to drive my child to school, I wouldn't hand my kid over to him. The Bus (and presumably the background check that was performed) somehow grants this stranger a status that very few people have been given: our trust that he will care for our boy when we aren't there to keep him safe. Really the same can be said of his teacher. She seems nice enough, but that tells me nothing of her qualifications, personality and temperament, experience, ideology and beliefs. This all kind of creeps me out, yet parents everywhere do this every year, and seem to not even give it a second thought. That's just plain weird.
One cool thing about him riding the bus is that it's giving me an opportunity to meet some of the other families on our street. There are only two other families with kids at our stop, but one has a boy in A's class, and the other has a daughter just a few months younger than N. We've lived here for more than 2 1/2 years, and have never seen any of these kids before. Hopefully some new friendships can come out of this experience as well.
Most of the time A. was gone, besides schooling his sister, I kept glancing at the clock and wondering what he was up to, and how he was doing.
He arrived home 40 minutes after school got out (we live about 4 minutes away, but they transport all the half-day kindies on one bus so it takes awhile), and was full of energy. He had lots to report, but the first thing out of his mouth was "Recess was too short!"
He was also excited to tell me about a kid in his class named "Viper". I was intrigued, and said "Really? A boy named Viper?". He said that no, it was a girl, and I realized he was actually talking about a girl in his class named "Piper". As uncommon as the name Piper is, Viper was sounding especially unique. If we ever have another kid, I have dibs on "Viper"! ;P
Today's happy report from him (after a 30 minute ride - there's hope the ride will grow shorter): "Recess was longer today!" LOL - the kid has priorities.
I have to say, it was really cute to see him getting off the bus. I stood on the stairs at the entrance, and the kids are so short you can barely see their little foreheads sticking over the tops of the seats. Already he has a little buddy from class - a boy who shares his same name. They said good-bye to each other as A. got off the bus, and apparently they shared a seat this morning on the way to school. I'm glad he's having fun, and two days into kindergarten, this is looking like a good choice for him.
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