What I learned the first week of kindergarten was a bit unexpected…

Meltdowns come from unexpected places. In our case doors. All. The. Doors. I didn’t think about my daughter needing to open/close car doors on her own for carpool. And she was stressed out about opening the door to the school (it’s propped open in the morning, so that was easily resolved.) I had prepared my child for every detail. So I thought. .

My daughter missed our cat more than any humans in our family. 

Ask less questions. Give it time and be ready to listen. It took my daughter 3 hours to spill the beans about her first day. But when she did, she had a LOT to say.

Carpool Snacks. If you are doing carpool an after school snack is handy to have. My daughter ate the rest of her lunch and the snack I brought her in the 2 mile drive home.

Carpool backpack. I have a younger child, so we both are in afternoon carpool for 30-45 minutes. I have been really fortunate that most days my son took this opportunity to nap. But when he was awake it was good to have a stash of toys, books and activities. Check out some more ideas here.

Also, if you enjoy books, then carpool line is a great time to catch up on some reading. I just ordered “Please don’t let me be the oldest mom in the PTA” by local author Sharon O’Donnell. My kids were born when I was 35 and 37, so pretty sure I’ll be able to relate. Follow her blog here.

My house was quiet. So quiet. My daughter isn’t really loud, but she’s chatty. She wants a snack, wants to know what we’re doing, wants art supplies, wants to show me art… the list goes on. Her younger brother is not so chatty. Sometimes the silence made me sad, but it got better as the week progressed. I started planning activities for when my youngest was occupied and playing independently, like reorganizing the pantry (used these, love them!!), cleaning out the fridge, working on this blog. It helped to have a flexible plan of things to do. Flexible being the key word since my youngest needed more attention some days than others.

Younger siblings are transitioning too. Some days my son went around like nothing had changed, but some days he was sad. Like, really sad, and he repeatedly asked to go pick up his sister. And although he is a total home body, it was good to have some activities planned for him to distract him during the day.

Although my kindergartner was tired, she still needed physical activity. The need for activity caught me a bit by surprise, although I don’t know why. Students get a 30 min recess, but not much more physical activity that that. So we’ve done quick trips to the playground or pool to burn off some excess energy and stress from the day. Check out my map of playgrounds and other tot spots here.

My child seems to grow up so much in the first week of school. She went from being in tears at kindergarten orientation to a confident elementary student after the first week. It seemed like such a drastic transition! I was proud (and perhaps a bit nostalgic and sad if I’m honest) to see such growth in a short time. She is doing great, loves school, and appears to be a happy and well-adjusted student. I bet your little kindergartner will be the same in no time!