A tear will trickle down my face and everyone will assume it’s because I have a boy in Preschool. At drop off, I will watch all the Kindergartener’s parents wipe the tears from their eyes as they wave goodbye to their children. On your first day of Kindergarten, nobody will even know you are missing, except me. A sweetly written card will explain these bins have been donated in memory of a little boy. Packed carefully with markers that you will never color with, glue sticks that you will never glue with and paint you will never paint with. Instead, I will carry three blue bins full of extra school supplies to donate to the classes that will never know you. I should be crying tears of joy that you’re growing up and getting so big. I wish I would have known about the after-school meltdowns before the boys started school, but now that I think about it, it totally makes sense.On your first day of Kindergarten, you should be here with me. For one of my sons, Mondays were always rough. After breaks in our routine, we'd sometimes have a relapse as the kids re-adjusted again. It cut down on a lot of crying and tantruming in the parking lot at school.Īfter a few months, the after-school meltdowns subsided. I used to meet the boys at the school gate and walk them back to the car, but when I learned that I could drive up to the school, and the boys could just hop in the car, I started doing that. One of my sons really needed to be active after school, and one of my sons liked to play quietly or watch a show. This depends on your children, and you'll soon start to see what your kids need. Doing something active or totally vegging out after school.This created a predictable routine for the boys. Going right home after school as much as possible.I had them in the car, and as soon as the boys were in their carseats, I let them eat something in the car. After a while I learned to expect it, and I did my best to try to lessen the meltdowns. They feel like it's okay to have a much needed cry or temper tantrum with you, as opposed to with a teacher they're still getting to know.Īdapting to the end-of-the-day grouchies was tough on our family. Even if it's a good thing, they're still expending emotional energy by adapting to something that's very new to them. They've been working really hard at being good all day, and they're worn out.Luckily a wise mom told me that having meltdowns after a full day of school was totally normal for kindergarteners. I chalked it up to being tired after the first day of school.īut it continued on for days, weeks, even months. It all escalated until they were in the car and one of the boys had a total meltdown. It was all good!Īs we walked back to the car, they started to whine and argue with each other. When they saw me, they smiled and gave me huge hugs. I watched my little kindergarteners as they blended right in with their new school environment.Īs teacher brought all of the kids out to meet up with their parents, I could see my boys doing their best to follow directions and learn the new pick-up routine. On the first day, we were ready! I dropped the boys off with no tears (from me – the boys were all about going!), and I stayed for the start-of-the-year chapel assembly at the school. We went to the school twice over the summer to walk around, meet the teachers, and help the boys imagine the coming school year. We talked about what kindergarten would be like. We did all that we could to prepare for the start of the school year. But, in the summer before they started kindergarten, they dropped their afternoon naps for good, and I could see that they were ready to go for the whole day. I even found a school that offered a half-day kindergarten program and signed the kids up there. I had my reservations about sending my boys to all-day kindergarten. The boys had been to preschool, and they were used to being away from home for a few hours, but they'd never been gone for a whole school day at once. Are you sending a little one to kindergarten for the first time this year? This time last year, we were gearing up to send our twin boys to kindergarten for the first time.
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