Jay's First Day at the BIG SCHOOL

 

Jay is finally in kindergarten. I say "finally" because he has been waiting to go to the BIG SCHOOL since Cole started two years ago. As usual, his favorite classmates are girls. Cecelia, his friend from preschool, is in his class, as well as Gracie, the girl who lives across the street. His new crush, however, is Kaylee. Not long after school started, they asked the teacher if they could be girlfriend and boyfriend. Apparently, however, there's trouble brewing in class K-E. Another boy told his mom that he and Kaylee are getting married.  According to the mom, he said very seriously, "Mom, I can't believe I already met the girl I'm going to marry." Kaylee came over for a playdate and Jay put on a nice button-down shirt. When I complimented him, Cole teased, "He dressed up for Kay-lee." Cole also took his big brother role quite seriously and teased and annoyed them the entire time. We need to have her over again soon and banish Cole to his room!

As room mom, I've been able to spend time in his classroom and I'm quite impressed with the class. His two teachers have been at the school since it opened about 25 years ago. They handle the kids beautifully and seem to really enjoy teaching kindergarten.

Academically, he's doing very well. His reading improves daily and he loves to do math problems. I find pieces of paper filled with equations all over the house. He takes computer class once a week and for awhile he muttered "www-dot-com" under his breath. He always tries to look over Cole's shoulder when he's doing homework and when I quiz Cole on his spelling words, Jay chimes in with the first letter. It makes Cole mad, so I try to give Jay some "homework" to do at the same time. He recently told me he doesn't like art because he has to do what the teacher tells him to do. He'd rather do his own projects (he's always creating little projects at home with tape and scraps of paper), but he is still proud of his school artwork.

The school's uniform policy is the hardest adjustment for him this year. He's always had a unique sense of style, from dressing as spiderman with his baby blanket as a cape and cowboy boots to wearing a batting helmet backwards while carrying a purse. The uniform is very casual (a red, white, or blue shirt [solid or with the school logo] with khakis or jeans), but the first few weeks, it seriously cramped his style. He'd come downstairs wearing his favorite Hawiaan shirt and I'd have to send him back. "But Mommy," he'd say, "It's beautiful." As the year has progressed, he's gotten more used to the dress code, but there are many days we let it slide. The other day he wore his blue fleece hoodie (with the hood up), gray gym shorts, and his cowboy boots. His teachers got a kick out of that.

They recently celebrated the 100th day of school. I can't believe Jay's kindergarten year is almost over!