Maya has now made it through her first week of kindergarten. Our routine has gone through a mountain of change in a short time, but I think we’ve managed the transition well. Maya, in particular, is having a really positive experience so far, and I couldn’t be more relieved.

Obligatory first day of school shot.

The first full week in August, she went to “kinder camp” in the mornings at her elementary school. There she got to meet a few of the kindergarten teachers and some of her classmates, check out a couple of the classrooms, and eat snacks and make crafts. It started all of us getting used to an earlier schedule (class starts at 7:45) and let Maya get a feel for what her new school would be like.

Notice the resemblance to the above photo?

The Thursday before school started, Maya had two big events. First, we brought snacks and treats for her to share with her montessori class. She had been sent home with a “s’mores kit” her first day in kinder camp and this spawned two ideas. First, we made homemade marshmallows the next weekend, and second, we made our own s’mores kits to send home with her fellow preschool classmates. For 26 people, she stamped labels with an octopus, wrote her own name, and stuck the labels to baggies. We filled them each with a graham cracker, a little chocolate bar, and a couple homemade marshmallows.

S’mores kits for her preschool class

For snack time, we made mini-muffins and brought them to school along with a store-bought fruit plate. Maya had a lot of fun serving the muffins to her class during snack time. Ian was even able to join us as well.

Then after school, we went to the elementary school for an ice cream social and to meet Maya’s actual kindergarten teacher. The whole school has sort of an “under the sea” theme, but Ms. Krauss’s room in particular is so much fun for Maya. There’s an actual fish tank that features, among other things, Dory and Nemo fish. There’s a big stuffed octopus puppet. In fact, there’s a little puppet theater set up. Maya has pronounced it the coolest classroom ever. And Ms. Krauss has “pretty white hair,” which is a big plus in Maya’s book.

Ms. Krauss had sent each kid home with a really sweet “night before kindergarten” poem and some magic confetti to place under their pillows to help them sleep. Maya was so excited about her confetti. “It’s the first magic thing I ever had!” And it worked!

Maya artwork and writing work

On her first day, Maya insisted on wearing her striped octopus dress. We had ordered her a new backpack and lunchbox (though we were shipped the wrong lunchbox and Maya had to wait a week to get the right one) to celebrate her move to elementary school. She was in a happy fizz about her new school and her new backpack. Oddipuddy doesn’t get to go to kindergarten with her, and she dealt well with that also.

She was tired when I picked her up from school that first day, but told me all about the different things she’d learned. She learned that ducks don’t make good pets, how to identify the word “me,” and where the bathroom is. She colored a first day of school book and was able to bring it home. “Today we did something called PE,” she told me in the car on the way to fetch her brother. She really seemed to enjoy her PE class.

Ian artwork

Tuesday was a little harder and she was hesitant to let Sean go when he dropped her off. We managed to get her to bed a half hour earlier on Tuesday night though, and I think that made a difference. On Wednesday morning, she was ready to go, and when I picked her up she was smiling and happy about all the things they’d done in school that day. The rest of the week went without a hitch. We collectively figured out how cafeteria lunches would work (except I haven’t yet cracked the code on what food they offer each day because the posted menu and what Maya reports having eaten are not even remotely the same), where to pick her up from after school care, and where to go when Maya forgets her lunch box, water bottle, etc.

You could see signs of tiredness and stress earlier in the week. At one point Maya said that she had to behave all day long at school; she didn’t wanna have to do it any more once she got home. By the end of the week though, it just seemed to be part of the routine. She was grumpy on Saturday morning because she didn’t have kindergarten to go to.

I was worried that Maya would be really sad to leave her montessori school, but she has clearly moved on. She’s very proud to be a kindergartner, and while she’s happy to visit her old classroom when we pick Ian up in the afternoon, her new elementary school is where she belongs.

Ian loves his sister.

Where’s poor Ian in all this? There’s been a lot of hubbub around getting Maya ready for school and through her first week, and Ian has been dealing with his own set of big emotions. He’s sad that his sister is no longer going to the same school he is. “I just want Maya,” he’ll tell us. When we all went to drop Maya off for her first day, Ian’s eyes welled up and his lips got quivery when it was time for us to leave without her. We have a weird little Ian ritual after we pick him up from school where we say, “Hi Maya and Ian’s school. Bye Maya and Ian’s school.” This past week we dropped Maya’s name from the chant, and he was not impressed. More tears.

I have to admit that last week was stressful for me as well. I worry a lot about how Maya will adapt to things socially. Also, her sometimes lackadaisical (and often willful) nature makes me worry about her getting fed and to the right place at the right time. At least so far, she seems to be managing just fine. We’ll see how the year progresses, but right now she is loving school and rolling with the changes. I think a lot of parents feel a little sad to see their kids moving on and growing up. At least with this, I haven’t felt an iota of sadness. There’s nothing but pride and relief here over the way she’s transitioned from pre-school to kindergarten, and I’m excited to see what the year brings.