Just You and Me Kid

Earlier this month, we had the opportunity to go to Ella’s Kindergarten Open House. I really needed this because, although Ella is a happy well-adjusted kindergarten, I was not feeling like a happy well-adjusted mom.

Sending my daughter to elementary school for the first time felt like sending her off into the great unknown.  This was partly my fault – we were on vacation during the orientation – and partly the school’s responsibility.  As a new parent in the local school district, I felt a bit like a new kid moving into the neighborhood and starting school halfway through the school year. Everything seemed geared toward seasoned parents. I felt lost and underwhelmed by the school’s lukewarm attitude toward parents. And I was not alone – it doesn’t take much to have another parent of a Kindergartner secretly “confess” that they also feel lost and a bit emotionally overwhelmed by it all.

The Open House offered an opportunity for me to actually get in the classroom and for Ella to show us what she does everyday. We live away from family and, thankfully, have the most amazing friends.  Our friend Georgia took the boys for an hour and Ella got some very rare one-on-one time with Mom and Dad. Ella enthusiastically showed us her school and we had a chance to ask the teachers a few questions. Then the teacher asked a question that would make all of the difference for me as a mom – “Would you like to go on our field trip with us?”

With a nursing infant and a not quite 3 year-old, my first reaction was “How am I going to swing this?”, but I simply said “yes.” I’d heard that the schools have seriously cut down on field trips, so this might be my only chance to go. After we left the school, my husband looked at me like “What has all the fuss been about?”

Yesterday, we went on our field trip to the fair grounds to see where our food comes from – The Farm (not the restaurant or grocery store, the kid’s answers to that question). The field trip helped me overcome some of my “Kindergarten Mom Blues.” I appreciated seeing her teacher in action. The structure she is famous for does not feel so rigid when you witness it in person.  It also helped to clear up some of the misunderstandings that come home without an adult to interpret them for me. I saw for myself that my daughter is an eager student who is comfortable with her teacher. In truth, she is a mini me, sitting on the edge of her seat waving her hand in the air, barely able to contain her desire to participate (and I loved that her teacher didn’t discourage her enthusiasm at all, but was simply helping her to wait to be called on and understand that it can’t be her turn every time).

Seeing the animals, talking food, sitting in a combine were all fun enough. The best part, though, was spending the whole day with my daughter, just the two of us. I helped with the class, of course, and interacted with other kids. I didn’t have to stop and feed the baby or make time to play with her little brother, or take care of the house, bills, or work, though. Just focusing on Ella was amazing and we both loved it!