Kindergarten!

So...the second day of Kindergarten ended up being significantly smoother than the first.

Let me back up.

First of all, I must say that Madi handled the morning routine yesterday like a champ. We set her alarm clock for 6:30 and she came into our room, all dressed, at 6:32. She ate her breakfast bar (she picked them out) and was ready to go with time to spare.

We were disappointed that Daddy had to be away on business for a couple of days, so he missed out on seeing her off for her big day. I know that had to kill him. Thankfully, Madi's friend, Ami Mei, and her mom, Carmen parked at our house to walk to school together. The girls enjoyed having a friend along.

When we showed up at the classroom, we were told by the teacher that she had never received a roster with Madi's name on it. She also mentioned that the class was overflowing and there was a possibility that some students may be moved. I was confused. She was confused. And I think Madi was a little confused, too. Afterall, there was no cubby assigned for her belongings and no hook for her to hang her backpack.

Ms. Maldonado graciously offered to keep Madi in the classroom while I attempted to sort things out with the office. This was not the "warm and fuzzy" first day of school that I was expecting. I guess that's what I get for expecting, huh?

I went to the office to find that Madi's registration forms were not to be found, though I had hand-delivered all of the paperwork back in May. After several minutes of speculation, they sent me on my way with a clean registration form and insisted that I return it as soon as possible with accompanying "proof of address" documentation.

I left the office feeling more confused than before and extremely frustrated--on the brink of tears, actually. Charlie and I walked back to the classroom, with an updated roster for the teacher, and found Madi, like such a big girl, combing through baskets of books over by the sofa. She handled it all in stride--so typical for our extraordinary daughter. It was I who was boiling inside.

We walked back home, and Carmen entertained Charlie while I scurried to complete the registration form. Half an hour later, Carmen went on her way and Charlie and I walked back to the school to submit the new form. The office staff continued to tell me what additional paperwork was needed, as I continued to tell them what paperwork I'd already submitted. You get the point.

Finally, one of the women had an epiphany.

"She's in Kindergarten?" she asks. (sounding somewhat perplexed)
"Yes." I reply with frustration.
"Oh...I was looking in the Pre-K folders!"

Seriously?

At that point, I really didn't care about the mistake--I just didn't want to have to go through the process of obtaining more blue and yellow forms from our pediatrician, etc. etc. etc.

Charlie and I left the school, hopeful that our paperwork would be found. Of course, the experience wouldn't have been complete if we didn't get caught in the rain on our way home...

Over the course of the day, the anxiety of the morning's events began to subside. It's really no big deal in the scheme of things, right??  Charlie woke from his nap in perfect time for the walk back to collect Jie Jie (big sister). The walker pick up section was chaos, but I really wasn't expecting much from our tax dollars by that time.

 

I loved seeing Madi turn that corner at pick up.  I could barely wait to ask her a zillion questions. But, like she's prone to do, she shut me down and kept very quiet about her day. I knew that getting this information will take time and some very covert prodding.  I was able to get a drip of info here and there yesterday afternoon. At one point, Madi said to me, "Mommy, if I can stay home from school, I'll take naps!"

Finally, last night before bed, Madi had a total meltdown when I told her that movie night and popcorn had to wait until Friday. As she was sobbing, she defiantly cried in her little voice, "I don't want to go to school! I don't like winter! I want summer!"  The reality was setting in.  No more lazy days. No more late nights. No more hanging around and playing with Charlie. The schedule's on.

Back to today...Madi was a bit more sluggish this morning than yesterday, but she didn't put up a fight, thank goodness. We did manage to leave on time (barely). Today, due to questionable weather, we drove to a park closer to the school, and walked from there.

And we were thrilled to find that Madi had been assigned her own cubby and backpack hook!!! I helped her unpack her stuff and she was totally comfortable with a place to call her own, so I knew that it was my time to go. I kissed her goodbye and off we went to the office...

...where they had found all of our forms.

We went to the "Boo Hoo" tea for a short time, but Charlie was pretty antsy, so we didn't stay for long.

Oh...and of course, the experience wouldn't have been complete if we didn't get caught in the rain on our way home...again...

Daddy, please come home!! And bring wine with you!!!