back to school.
not just about a crazed consumer frenzy with price wars between staples and walmart on the lowest everyday price of a 50 pack of ruled paper. not just about a new back-pack and picking out the perfect avengers tee to feel one hundred percent 'dressed for sucess'. although. shout out to my pint sized pimp on tuesday morning looking like the perfect combo of toddler GQ + avenger-loving hardly-three-year-old:
tuesday morning i took the mega-don-traditional first-day-of-school photos on our 'front-step'. i walked him to the door, and cried all the way home. every tuesday-following-labour-day, mothers are reminded, just like on birthdays, that another year has slipped by. that feeling of absolute pride for all they have accomplished in that year. and that feeling of perhaps selfish but honest sadness that if every year goes by this quickly, he will be leaving home , like. tomorrow. and most important, that feeling that reminds a parent to be present. every. single. day. because as many emails and dishes and loads of laundry as there are to answer to, your impact on your child is number one, and these are the years where that impact will really direct his moral compass for the long term.
i worked all day tuesday - crushed a hot yoga class - and may have slipped out five minutes early because i just. HAD. to get to school to see how his first day went.
and then it happened.
i walked into streetsville academy in my post-work-out-black-leggings-still-sweating-ponytail-glory. and the director of the school quietly whispers that we need a meeting on the spot. gulp.
marcus has gone to the academy since he was eleven months old. it isn't play based. we were so blessed to get in on the shortest notice ever, and to this day are thankful that we connect so well with the staff + students alike. the school is private, and does things their own way, including progressing kid's through based on development instead of just age. marcus has connected well with his teachers + classmates all along. he is so happy there, and it shows when they have bumped him up a classroom level a handful of times to continue to indulge his eager intellect.
anyways. back to the meeting. after assessing marcus' classroom dynamic on the first day of school, and test-running him in the next grade ... "we would like to move him into kindergarten....tomorrow."
uh.
sorry? he just turned three. and there is a reason parents are supposed to have at least four years to prepare for that moment. add the whole 'single-mom-circus' into the mix? my goodness. we knew he would go into kindergarten early - we had discussed towards the end of the first term. but this was a big.deal. james + i had discussed it in great depth with the school throughout last year, and came to agree that regardless of what 'grade' he's in, we just want to use these early years to establish amazing educational work ethic. we want him to feel great about learning. be challenged. thrive. and still be three.
did i mention kindergarten means full formal uniform? even a GYM uniform? [are you kidding me? no i am not.]
so. we did the first day of school. twice. in a row. my poor heart. so filled with pride, so overflowing with love and adoration for this handsome, funny, soccer-loving + smart, hard-working boy. i had to spend forty dollars on a single pair of uniform pants. twice. did you know they don't even make school uniforms in his size? pint-sized much? the kid needs to have his school clothes tailored by his mama who-luckily-can-also-stitch-a-mean-alteration.
and marcus? the kid loves. his uniform. loves. telling me that he is in kindergarten. and is loving. his new teacher Miss Watson who reminds me perfectly of my aunt Betty - which was the absolute clincher in confidence in moving marcus into kindergarten an entire year early. She looks like Aunt Betty, has the warmth of Aunt Betty, and is even a retired teacher who moonlights at the academy just for funsies because she just loves it.so.darn.much. marcus connects so well with her + we are excited [without expectations btw] for him to learn + grow in his real.live.kindergarten class.
and if they pull me aside tonight and say hey k, maybe we rushed this one and he should stick it out with the kids his age? as long as he is happy. healthy. and hard-working? we could not care less.
needless to say. this week has weighed on me. and i am so thankful for my sister + family + friends + man who have offered honest + supportive advice + indulged me in my endless photo sharing on both first days of school. james is a great father and co-parent, but doing both emotionally-charged-first-days-of-school by my single-mom-self was a lot. i was so happy he got to do his own 'first day of kindergarten' this morning with marcus + already can't wait to pick that kid up at 5.
so bring it on kindergarten. forty dollar pint-sized-pants and all.
-kare+m
xo
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