First Day of School, First Day of School...

The day has come, the day I send my oldest off into the school world. It is hard to believe we are already here. It certainly has been an adjustment for us. To begin with, I wasn't even going to send Emma off to school this year. For the last 2 or 3 years I had totally convinced myself that I was going to hold Emma back a year. It just seemed like it would be better for her to be one of the oldest kids in her class instead of the youngest, I also thought that if we held her back I could put her into 2 years of preschool, helping be that much more prepared. Plus if she was a year older maybe she wouldn't be as hyper therefore, she might have an easier time sitting down in a chair all day. Well all of those ideas changed when we found out that we were moving to TN where their cut off date is September 30th, instead of Indiana's cut off date of August 1st. However even then, I was so sure I was going to hold her back, until I happened to talk to my MIL while she was with us at graduation. I brought it up to her still thinking, "oh I know she is going to agree with me, " only to find out I was wrong. She highly recommend that we put Emma in Kindergarten this year for a number of reasons. First off she had never really heard of holding a girl back as being beneficial, boy yes but not girls, secondly, Emma is in need of constant attention. She is a girl that always wants to be doing something, always wants someone to play with her, etc. That of course has made it a challenge for me, how do I do everything I need to in the day and still entertain Emma, and then how do I not feel guilty if I don't do something with her all the time so I can get other stuff done? It really was a daily battle. Over all my MIL really thought that Emma was 100% ready to go. Well my next move was to then talk to Emma's preschool teacher, once again thinking, " Oh I know Ms Kim doesn' t like sending kids too early to school, she will be on my side." But to my astonishment she didn't agree. After some thought, she also thought that Emma was ready, she is smart, a natural born leader, and was one to never want to go home from preschool, she loved the constant interaction. Oh boy, so now I really needed to think this over with Michael. I really battled in my mind if this was the right thing. I started Kindergarten being one of the youngest kids, but that ended up not being the greatest thing for me, I was intellectually ready for 1st grade when the year was over, but not really socially or mentally ready, so I was put into what was called a "transition class" which totally saved my academic career. So since I had that experience, I thought Emma might as well, however, once Michael and I started talking, I realized how different Emma is from me. I could handle being by myself, I actually preferred it, I was not a natural born leader, and I didn't need the constant input. She is certainly more like her dad.  Then I thought that I should be the one to give her the constant input, so by putting her into school it was just a cop-out for me. My MIL told me however that it isn't cop-out because we are both getting what we need, Emma now can get the constant input, and I can get the stuff done that I need to. It is a win-win situation. Naturally I still need to be proactive in Emma's life and play with her and talk with her, but I don't have to be the one entertaining her 24/7. My last concern was still that it was all day, she was going from 2 days a week from 9 to noon preschool, to all day Kindergarten. So we finally decided it was going to be an adjustment, just like it would be at any point, put she would get use to it. Well, after thinking this all through, talking to a number of people, and doing some fasting a prayer we felt like we should put her into Kindergarten. And it really has been a good thing.
Here they start August 8th, but they way they do it for the Kindergartners is, they go only once that first week where they learn about what school is all about and do some assessment testing. Then by Thursday evening you find out who their teacher is so one Friday who can meet them. It helps with the transition. Emma's teacher is Mrs. Dana Lavelle, who has been there since the school opened some 16 years ago and she seems fantastic. Everyone we have talked to about her has just given her great reviews and we are super pleased. This really will be a fun, new, and exciting year for all of us. Emma is really enjoying most of school, she doesn't like quiet time, and there are a few days she has complained about the bus, but other than that it has been great! How grateful I am for fasting, prayer, and other people who can see things I sometimes don't.