Back to School!

Kip started first grade yesterday in the 95 degree scorching heat! He was nervous leading up to the day but excited by the time we were ready to leave for the school.

I did his traditional porch photo which he was exceptionally compliant for. Love that! 

Ivy was moody and refused to sit next to him for a photo and then melted down in tears requesting just a hug. Kip was super sweet with her. She is feeling the back to school emotions too!

Dan, Ivy, and I all got to escort Kip to school and we waited in the mass crowd of parents for the doors to open.

It's so hard to send them into the building not knowing where their classroom is! I'm not the only parent that wants some sort of "meet the teacher" ahead of the first day. Fortunately, Kip went inside with a friend he knew was in the same class and another teacher led them to their classroom and carried the heavy school supply bags.

Normally, the first day is a half day but this year it was a full day. When we picked Kip up he was happy and chatty for the first 15 minutes.

He was excited to show us his folder and his special assignment notebook where they write down their homework. But then after a few minutes after being home, he burst into tears. The trigger was his pumpkin bread snack was too hard to pick-up but the root cause was that exhausting pressure of the first day of school. I feel for him! It's A LOT to ask of a little kid. I'm proud of Dan and I as we navigated the emotional afternoon with Kip. Despite the protests, we got both Kip and Ivy ready and out the door for swim lessons at 4 pm. Fortunately, swim seemed to help Kip regulate and he was in a much better mood the rest of the evening. 

Unfortunately, Kip's teacher did not share any photos. Trust me, I am beyond sad about this but I'm giving some grace and just hoping for a picture here and there. 

Now, what we all came for, some scuttlebutt from first grade!

Kip reports there are 23 kids in his class and mostly boys (yikes!). They each get their own "square table" (desk) and the tables are grouped in 5-6. He gets to keep his pencil box with supplies and his headphones for computer in his desk (he described it as a drawer without a drawer. lol!) He is sitting next to a girl from his class last year and across from a boy who refused to tell Kip his name and covered his name tag up so he couldn't read it. There is a "good kid having a hard time" (my term for a kid who generally gets in trouble) also at his table and apparently that boy had to leave early due to wetting his pants, twice. Kip volunteered to take that boy to the nurse's office. I HOPE the teacher saw that as hero of the week behavior!! They will have gym on Mondays and Tuesdays (much to Kip's distaste), Music on Wednesday, Computer/World Languages on Thursday where they will learn ASL, and Art on Friday. 

Kip sat with two friends from last year at lunch and he said no one wanted to play with him at recess so he ran around alone. It was blazing hot so he said he got really sweaty. He saw both his kinder teachers and they said hi to him. He is most stressed about how "long" the day is and that he has to remember his square on the rug for the entire year. He cannot fathom having to remember something that long and cannot be convinced that he in fact remembers things for much longer than he realizes. Oh, the mind of a kid. So innocent. 

I expect the next couple of weeks will be rocky as we all adjust to the school routine again. Thank goodness it is already Friday.