I had my camera. We were on time, maybe even a little early. We were excited and had talked about today since signing up. I was planning on having fun pictures of smiling kids, new experiences and new beginnings.
But, there will be no pictures. Alas, dreams don't always lead to reality, and boy was today a bummer of reality!
Kindergarten Orientation.
Yep. Let's all get our laughs out now. Hmmm, I even just laughed a bit. Maybe that means that the frustration of today is lessening with the passing of a few hours. Let me fill in the spaces to our adventure.
Kindergarten Orientation! Yahoo!! D was so excited!! We stopped by the school, picked up papers to fill and return, talked about G being at the school
at that very moment (!), and shared how great it would be to go to a "big" school (D's words).
A day later the papers were filled out and we again went to the school and returned papers, signed up for August assessment, shared excitement at being able to ride the bus around the parking lot during the Kindergarten Orientation and noticed fun things about the school office.
While I have had some concerns about D starting Kindergarten this year as his birthday is just two weeks before the cut-off and he would be one of the "young ones" in his grade, I had rectified that he was doing well in preschool, learning numbers, letters and even beginning to read words himself when we read from The Book of Mormon before bed. He is physically big, and he plays well with other kids. We were moving ahead with Kindergarten!
We really were excited about going to the orientation today. We got ready to go without any hint of what was to come...until we approached the front doors to the school. D gets pretty nervous in front of people. He can be easily embarrassed. Our friends at church have seen this as he has been asked to share scriptures or short talks in primary only to refuse at the last minute, crumbling into his chair as he would begin to cry. That started to happen as he saw people inside the building. He stopped walking and held onto a decorative fence right outside the door. He said he didn't want to go inside with his glasses. It's been less than a week since he's been wearing glasses, but this was the first time that he really showed that he was embarassed since the very first time he wore them. After trying to talk with him and realizing that he was not going to budge, I decided it was more important to get him into the school at that moment than having him wear his glasses. We decided he could let me hold his glasses until he was feeling a bit more comfortable, then he would put them on. We walked inside. Did I mention that I had J with me too? Hmmm, just checking.
After getting inside, we followed the other parents and kids into the library where chairs were set up. After a short introduction, all the new kindergarteners were invited to go line up with the two Kindergarten teachers so they could go to the rooms and play, explore, draw and have a snack. My smile quickly became forced as D instantly started his little crying. This progressed as I tried to encourage him to go stand in line with other boys that he already knew. Didn't work. He began to meltdown as he was now laying on his chair refusing to go with the other kids. I suggested that I walk with him to the classroom which just brought on louder protests. Sensing something amiss, J decided to become a bit belligerent--with more volume. All of a sudden our wonderful trip to the school turned into a nightmare--for both D and me!
It was obvious that D wasn't going to change his mind. I have seen this before. There wasn't much I could do. While on the inside I wanted to give him a bit of a smack and tell him to get it together, I realized I was only left with calmly trying to follow the information that was being presented to the parents. It's not fun having kids struggle with life. I wanted D to be brave and see the fruit of pressing forward. I wanted him to have fun exploring the classroom that would be his in a few months. Truly, I wanted to feel like a "good parent" that had well-adjusted kids instead of the parent that the other moms and dads were sneaking glances at while feeling grateful they weren't in that position.
Oh well, I've never had "perfect kids" or been the parent that would ever be set up as a model example of perfect parenting. I don't think it exists in the real world--other than Mary Poppins. Realizing that there was not much I could do but try to make the best of what was left of our adventure, we headed down to the Kindergarten rooms once the parents were excused from our meeting. For some reason, it wasn't a big deal now and D enjoyed exploring the two different rooms. Once we returned home, D appologized and said "I just got a little scared". What could I do? I haven't yet figured out how I can help him overcome this type of fear, but we'll work on it. I did call my mom and relayed our experience with her because I knew she would see the humor in it and I needed someone to lighten my mood a bit. She did just that. Thanks mom.
I guess we'll see what comes next. D does a great job in preschool and I believe he will overcome this hiccup too. Always something to keep us guessing. Nothing like being a parent to keep you humble and on your toes. Can't help but love these little ones though.
