Kindergarten

Right after Kyla was born, the nurse congratulated us on just making it before the school cutoff. Indeed, she just made it by three and a half hours.

Whether or not we should actually send her on time has been in the back of our heads for quite some time, and it came to the forefront over the past year. We were concerned that she would struggle being the youngest kid in her class (except for any kids whose parents managed to get them in early). Eventually we concluded that she seemed ready and her preschool teacher told us that she seemed independent enough for Kindergarten.

Kyla has been longing for the day when she could go to the "big kids' school" that is about a mile from our house. However when the big day drew near, she started getting anxious and worried that it might be too difficult for her. Becky and I assured her that Kindergarten would be fun.

She requested that we give her a picture of Becky for her to take with her for comfort just like she had on her first day of preschool. We were shocked (and impressed) that she remembered that kind of detail two years hence. I printed out a small headshot of Becky and taped it to the back of Kyla's necklace.

The start of Kindergarten is actually a three day process. On the first Becky and Kyla went together to check things out together. Then on the second Becky went alone to learn what to expect. Finally on the third day Kyla actually went to class on her own.

I worked from home that day so that we could all escort her together to Grand Ridge Elementary. Apparently the first real day of school was a big deal to many other parents as well, as there were many cameras there to cover the event.

Kyla was the first in line to go to class and nervously walked into this new phase of her life. I took pictures as she left and Becky struggled to hold it together while her baby walked away both literally and metaphorically (Becky did a great job of staying composed throughout). She must have had a great time because afterwards she was complaining that she couldn't go to school every day of the week, then on her second day she literally ran to get in line for class.

While she was there Kyla helped another girl reach for a pencil and retrieve her mail from her mailbox. This impressed her teacher, Ms. Dammers, who rewarded her with a green ticket, which is her class' means of recognizing good behavior and was a very big deal to Kyla.

I don't think we could have asked for a better start to this new phase of Kyla's life. No doubt school is going to have its ups and downs, but we all know how important a first impression is.