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

Frozen Blackberry Yogurt Tye Dye Pops

The boys and I had fun picking these yummy blackberries from our neighbors yard. Miles of course was eating them along the way. He's such a berry lover. I would have to say it's one of his favorite foods. Anyways, now here I was with a bowl of blackberries...what to do with them?



I made yummy frozen yogurt pops. I pureed the blackberries with some plain lowfat yogurt and a bit of sugar. After pushing this puree through a sieve, I layered the blackberry yogurt mix with plain lowfat yogurt that I also sweetened with a bit of sugar, in popsicle molds. And into the freezer they went. It was really that simple! I think in the future I may even use vanilla yogurt to layer with the berries, and this could be done with all sorts of different berries.



So after a dinner with friends, the kids enjoyed their yummy dessert treat.

Boy Genius 1 and 2

So as I said earlier, today I watched Rachel's kids for a bit. During this time I pulled out Legos for Aidan and Parker to play with. I imagined, towers and forts being built with them, Ha! Of course not. Boy genius 1 and 2 decided they would build numbers with them. So they started going through the single digits figuring out which ones they can make..they were most thrilled with the number 5 and then realized together they were "Fifty-five" Oh the excitement of the double digit was almost too much to handle. I'm surprised Parker didn't start teaching Aidan the square roots of 55 while Aidan taught him how to spell it and explain that it's a compound word. Hmmm would you call this typical boy play?

6 Kids To Watch

Today I watched Rachel's kids while she went to her chiropractor appointment. Her kids are the same age as mine, so that means I watched two 5 yr olds (Parker will be five soon) and 4 soon to be 3 yr olds. Yes six kids total 5 and under. I know it sounds a bit daunting and I have to admit I was a bit nervous. Mostly about what happens if they decide they're bored, at least that's when my own really start to act out, bored or overly tired. So I got myself prepared with a couple of art projects, some large plastic beads for necklaces and some paper crowns for decorating. Surprisingly, all went well, I only had to pull out the beads, they played with that for awhile, then the boys played Legos (more about that later) while the girls entertained themselves hanging out in Miles bed with a doctor kit taking each others temp, blood pressure and listening to heart beats (very cute). Eventually they all went outside to play while I started dinner. Everything was pleasant up until dinner time (Rachel was back at that point), taco nite, then the tantrums started, mostly my own kids or lets say kid. All in all not too bad.

Train Party Has Left The Station

Aidan had his 5th birthday party, it was a train party, sorta. I'd been fretting over this birthday party and what train activities to have. I went on the search for stuff, with no luck, dinosaurs sure, cars sure, trains sorry. I was really trying to stay away from having a full fledged Thomas the Train party. Although we had a Thomas cake I had to draw the line there. I was having a creative block on this whole train thing and really couldn't come up with anything. I ended up creating a mural at midnight (yes, midnight and at 1 am I was making a t-shirt with the number "5" on it, call me crazy) using a roll of butcher paper and a roll of duck tape. The duck tape was used for train tracks and I made a train with Aidan's photo in the window. The kids got to decorate this mural with construction paper and markers. The only other activity at the party was the jumpy house. I ordered some train conductor hats as party favors which bombed. I envisioned seeing all the kids running around with their hats on, but in fact nobody wanted to wear them expect for maybe Miles for a short while.

I wanted to make it pleasing for adults too. Since it was a late morning party, we served Peets coffee and mimosas for adult drinks. Bagels, cream cheese, lox, baked ham (one of Aidan's favorites), an artichoke heart fritatta, and a variety of cheeses and fruits. The biggest hit there was the tray of egg rolls my brother-in-law and sister-in-law showed up with. Thanks!

Anyways, despite all this, as my friend Rachel stated, "the minimalist party was a hit" The kids were entertained long enough, right up to cake time. Aidan had a great time!