Growing Up, He Graduated Today

Yes my little boy graduated from kindergarten today....( weird I don't think we had graduation ceremonies for kindergarten in my time) there was a sweet ceremony followed by a pizza and cupcake party.

You could feel the excitement in the room, the kids knew this was their big moment, a right of passage. Soon they would no longer be kindergartners. The crowd of parents arrived and shortly after we began the ceremony. The kids were excited to wear their caps they had made along with the twenty-two tassels I made (phew! glad that one's over) and we, the parents, were so excited to see them wearing them. Each child got to stand up front to receive their diploma and say what they liked best about the school year. My Aidan said,

"I liked doing the 'hard' math best"




Mommy and Daddy were so proud. So silly, you would have thought he was graduating from Harvard, but it really did feel like a huge milestone had been reached. Our little boy is growing up, developing his sense of self, exploring his like and dislikes and joined in the world (cruel as it may be) of social rankings. It's been fun to watch, how he's handed out his phone number to a classmate (really, he's 5), invited kids to his birthday party even though his birthday is still months away, started making a guest list for play dates..all of this just makes me take a step back and as 1."who is this??", and 2."wow, he really is growing up"




I'm sure you've guessed already that I missed Artful Thursday unless of course you count the small treat bags I made for the kids at 1am, LOL! Yes I was manically putting together the kids treats and Aidan's gift in the wee hours of the night(or morning). I simply made some treat bags filled with kisses and Swedish fish tied with fun argyle ribbon and a tag I made. I wrote "Way To Go" figured those were all sight words the kids should be able to read.



And for Aidan, we gave him a some books (summer reading) and a watch. A grown up watch with a face on it. He was so pleased. Congratulations, Aidan we are so proud of you!

Holiday Treats for a Holiday Party

Aidan had a holiday party on his last day of school before winter break. For this party I baked some festive cupcakes and decided to put together a little gift for Aidan's classmates...so they each got a sweet gingerbread boy and a mini candycane in a cellophane bag with a star tag. Aidan was thrilled!

The Start Of School Days

Today begins a new phase in life for us, the start of school days. Aidan's first day of kindergarten. Mommy and Daddy were stunned, their baby boy began his right of passage into boyhood, and we were initiated into the world of PTA meetings, Dad's club, classroom volunteers and field trips, today Aidan was off to school. He lined up on is designated #6, waiting to walk into his class. We went along with him, he sat at his desk, the teacher introduced herself then asked parents to leave. Aidan (and mommy and daddy) was doing fine up until this point. As we began to leave, I saw his face contort into a frown, I kept walking followed by Daddy. Daddy was stopped by tugging at his shirt suddenly our little boy was clinging to us stating, "I don't like the first day of school." followed by sobs. We quickly got his teachers attention, she came over and took his hand as we scurried out the door. As soon as I was out of his sight I felt the tears begin to well and quickly worked at regaining my composure. We went to the library for coffee and pastries and commiserated with other parents who were feeling as we were, dazed.

Max and I spent the rest of the day, talking about Aidan, wondering how he was doing, and what he was doing at that time. We even considered driving by at recess to take a peek at him on the playground. We decided against this, thinking it would be disastrous if he spotted us then insisted to come home. So we waited. When it came time for pick up, we rushed on over to school. We were 6 minutes early and those 6 minutes of waiting seemed like 6 hours..the anticipation of his pick up was dizzying. Finally the time came, I went to his classroom door as each child was being ushered out one by one as each parent arrived. It was my turn, Aidan came out, teacher reported he did just fine, at this point I realized I had been holding my breath waiting for the worst, phew I exhaled in relief. My little boy survived his first day of kindergarten and mommy and daddy did too! It sure was a big milestone for all of us.




We celebrated with hot chocolate and a double chocolate brownie treat from Starbucks and we were all so pleased.

Lunchbox Perfection

In my quest to make kindergarten perfect for Aidan, I searched high and low for just the right lunchbox for him. I wanted something that he would love, something that reflected a little something about him, something that wasn't too babyish and that was not a branded character. I know you're saying to yourself right now, "Geez it's just a lunchbox." But, I figured this would be something he would be carrying everyday, and if it was something he really loved it would just add that much more excitement to going to school. Maybe I'm just being crazy and putting way too much thought into all of this but I had to follow my obsession. So, during this search, I bought 4 different lunchboxes. I know many of you are thinking, CRAZY! I would bring them home, look at them, spend some time thinking about them and maybe they spent a few days in my closet (where I hide all the kids treats) then eventually rule them out as "not being right at all". After weeks of deliberating, I finally narrowed it down to one of the Crocodile Creek lunchboxes, as I just love their products. Now it just boiled down to which one of the many delightful choices they had, was the one for Aidan..was it dinosaurs? Nah, he's starting to get over that phase. Was it the alphabet one? No too babyish for him, not a challenge at all. Zoo animals, nah not really his interest right now. Then I spotted the solar system one, tah dah! he's still learning about his planets so this will still keep him intrigued. The names of the planets are written on the sides, he's sure to love that, something to read as he's taken to reading everything in front of him...street signs, packaging, even the directions/ rules to the use of the jumpy house during his birthday party. So after days of studying the different Crocodile Lunchboxes available on line and several trips to shops that sold them to actually touch and feel them. I'm really a tactile driven shopper, I need to touch and feel what it is I'm going to purchase so that rules out a lot of online shopping, good for me! I finally purchased the solar system lunchbox and presented it to him this morning. I'm so glad I put so much thought into getting the right box for him because he was just thrilled and I was right about the writing on the sides, he quickly began to read them to me. He carried his new lunchbox with him the rest of the day. When daddy came home from work (or should it be dad now, he is 5) it was one of the first things he showed him. He's absolutely delighted.

Mama's Kindergarten Jitters

I know I'm not alone with this one. There must be lots of Mommies out there with the kindergarten jitters. At least thinking there's lots out there makes me feel better about it. I can't help but worry about my baby (yes I know he's 5) going off to kindergarten in a great big school with hundreds of kids and 22 in his class for him to get lost amongst. I can't help but worry about whether I've prepared him for this moment. Have I done my mommy job? Will he be able to manage his zipper on his lunch pack? Will he be able to peel his own banana? Will he remember to wash his hands after using the potty? Will he make new friends right away? Will he shine like a star and be a good student (of course he will, hee! hee!)? All these thoughts just have been racing through my head, keeping me up at night, just wondering. In 5 days, my baby boy will be heading off to his first day of school. Yes I'm excited for him but I'm also anxious about all the "what ifs?", the millions of possibilities of "what ifs?"

I've talked to him about kindergarten and his new school. I've driven him by and pointed out his soon to be new kindergarten playground. He seems so nonchalant about it all. I ask him how he feels about it, he shrugs his shoulders and says excited. And I say "really, really?" And he says "sure". I'm not sure what I'm expecting but I would think a show of a little more emotion, whether it be him bouncing with excitement or trembling with nervousness, but please kid...show me something!

Oh well, in the meantime I'll continue to check and re-check my lists. Did I get everything he might need? Do I have enough lunch foods for him? Blah, blah, blah