1st Day of Kindergarten

Mrs. Davenport & Darren
He's very proud of the GI Joe backpack...

Yesterday, was Darren's first day of Kindergarten. We couldn't believe it was finally here. Our DareBear, a Bowen Bobcat Kindergartner!
Of course, preparations started last week, with school supply shopping, parent orientation, and meet the teacher night. Shopping for school supplies was a nightmare. I won't go into too much detail but between the crowds at Super Wal-Mart and having to search at least 10 different stores for "primary pencils (fat size)" and still never finding them, it was definitely not the highlight of the week for Zach and I. We tried our best to make sure Darren enjoyed himself though. His favorite things were his GI Joe back pack that lights up as he walks, his transformers lunch box, and a spiral notebook that wasn't on the school supply list but had a dragon on the front.

Darren also loved meet the teacher night. For months we have been driving by his "big school", or playing on the playground outside, but he had never been inside until last week. He got to meet his teacher, Mrs. Davenport. Of the four Kindergarten teachers, she is the one with the most experience. Mrs. Davenport has been teaching since Zach and I were babies. The other three teachers combined experience doesn't even add up to her years of service. We were relieved that Darren was placed in her capable hands, we just hope he doesn't force her to use all her years of experience to whip him into shape. Darren was so busy exploring the classroom he didn't want to leave that night, but Zach assured him he would have plenty of time to check it out later.

Sunday night I was packing lunch and making bottles, Zach was labeling school supplies, Darren was decorating his school box with X-men stickers, and Kamryn was pissed at the world. She was just as tired as the rest of us. When everything was finally ready for the morning, and Kamryn was asleep in her crib we sat down to read the book Mrs. Davenport had given us, "The Night Before Kindergarten". It was a cute book, a spin off of "Twas the Night Before Christmas". At the end of the book, all the parents are crying and the kids say "It's OK Mom and Dad, Kindergarten is cool." This started a conversation later that ended with Darren asking me not to cry. A tough request.

Monday morning, Darren was so nervous he wouldn't eat breakfast. Usually, he eats breakfast at home when he wakes up, and then again at Daycare. He also was a chatter box, a nervous habit that he gets from his Daddy. Which worked out fine because I go mute and chew on my fingernails when I get nervous, and I was definitely nervous. I was so nervous I locked Darren in the truck when we were in the school parking lot. A quick fix, but not something he was particularly happy about. He held my hand all the way to his classroom, and lately he hasn't been wanting to do that. We got all his stuff put away in his cubby, and then he sat down in front of his name tag and told everyone at the table "Hi." I am proud to say that I didn't cry, at least not until I got to the truck. His first day went great, he learned how to say boy and girl in sign language. His only complaint was that he couldn't swing during recess because his class, "had to stay on the purple slides because Mrs. Davenport is the boss and she said." So I think since he already figured out who is boss, the rest of the year should be a breeze, right?