School Supplies & Gearing Up For Kindergarten

I'm getting ready to send my oldest child off to Kindergarten (like nearly every other parent who had a baby in the Fall of 2002 or Spring/Summer of 2003), and I had to get school supplies for the first time. Like a responsible parent, I did my supplies shopping early, ahead of the rush, and didn't wait until the last minute. This was somewhat unusual for me, and I'm probably a little too proud of myself.

What kind of a racket are these Kindergarten teachers running? Most of the things on the list made complete sense, and I have no objections. Parents should buy crayons, markers, colored pencils, folders, pencil boxes, glue, scissors and stuff like that that. But there were a couple things on the list that I don't think the kids will be using. Vis-a-vis markers for overhead projectors are not something I'd expect a Kindergarten kid to use. And yet, one marker per kid is on the list. Do the Kindergarten teachers need 20 of those things each? The worst thing of it is that I couldn't find a package with less than 5 of those markers in it at the store. So my solution is to sell as many as I can (up to 4, so far I've solicited 2) to my friends with Kindergarteners at my kid's school to offset my cost, and to keep the extras from going to waste. Hopefully they haven't all done their shopping yet.

The reality of sending the first one to school is hitting me over and over again. Our big girl has special needs, and has been to school before, for 2 years already, but this is REAL school. Everyone goes to school at this age, not just our special kid. Whether my husband wants to think so or not, it's different this time. It's for real. They start counting tardies and everything.

While I'm not looking forward to the emotional part of the start of school, I am looking forward to it for my big girl's sake. I know she'll do very well. She's so much more ready than I am. She'll be glad to have more structure back in her life. I just can't give her that at home. I'm not wired that way. I've tried to keep things predictable for her this summer, like trying to go swimming on certain days of the week, and shopping and stuff like that. And we've been pretty good about rest times (we used to call it nap time, but that doesn't go over as well lately), keeping that at approximately the same time each day. But whatever I can do, it's nothing like school. Sure, she eats at the same times nearly every day, but that's because she's watching the clock and coming to me telling me it's time for breakfast/lunch/dinner. At school, she'll have the teacher watching the clock more closely than she will be, keeping the well-oiled-machine running on time.

For every part of me that is sad for my baby to go to Kindergarten, I am also rejoicing that she is ready for it, progressing through her childhood appropriately. If she weren't starting Kindergarten, something would be wrong.

I'm also getting ready to have my little girl be the only one at home. I think we'll have fun. I hope she'll decide she's ready to use the potty. (Please, God!)

I hope that my earlier wake-up call will result in getting more done. Hmmm... We shall see.

We still have 15 days until school starts. I want to make the most of them!

It's been a while since I've taken the time to think about the songs in my head. They've been there, but some I've been embarrassed to share. I'll bite the bullet on this one, even though it's awful. "From a Distance," by Bette Middler was in my head for the better part of the day yesterday. Pretty bad, huh. I know. I haven't even heard that song in weeks, and when I did, it was only because it was on an episode of Pop-Up Video. Thanks, VH1. That was horrific.

The song currently in my head is the last song I heard in the car, "Rain All Day," by Fleming & John, off The Way We Are. They also recorded this song on their first album, Delusions of Grandeur, but the newer one is a bit longer with an extended intro, a tad slower, and a touch more melancholy, which suits the song better. They also added some auxiliary percussion, like rain sticks and such. They are my all-time favorite band. Amazingly talented people! If I could have someone else's voice, I'd want hers. Go have a listen and see for yourself!