All I Ever Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten

Well, I meant to write about Noah's first day of kindergarten much earlier in the week, but of course daily life kind of interceded. So, apologies to the grandmas for reporting back so slowly!

Noah was really excited about being a “big boy” and moving on to kindergarten. He had just learned to tie his shoes the weekend before and started putting his face down in the pool water as well, so he was skipping ahead by leaps and bounds. So, being a big boy, he insisted on completely dressing himself head to toe for his first day.

The picture to the right is him off on his own, buttoning his shirt. It took about ten minutes but he did it! He wanted us to stay away so he could surprise us. You can click on any of the pictures to make them a bit bigger.

The whole family accompanied Noah for the first day. In the van he said, “I miss Montessori” and Michael and I glanced at each other with an “uh-oh” look, but other than that, Noah never seemed to mind changing schools.

At the school, the kindergarten paparazzi were in full force. So many parents and siblings, it was like some kind of carnival. Noah was to line up outside, and we found his line. His teacher was greeting all the children. A boy named Cooper, whom we had met at the pool a couple days before came over and said hello, asking if Noah was ready for kindergarten. So sweet. Too bad he was in one of the other classes. We chatted with his parents a bit and then it was time to go inside.

The kids began their little parade into the school, turning back to wave at the parents. I felt like it was the scene in Willy Wonka, where those with the Golden Tickets were going into the chocolate factory, while the rest of us stayed outside and applauded and cheered!

I did pretty well until it was time to go, and then I did tear up a little bit. It is a pretty big milestone for our little man, and he has been achieving so many things lately.

Daddy sent me out to play for awhile while he watched the twins. I was going to go see a movie, but the times I wrote down were for the previous day, and there was no movie until it was time to pick up Noah. Instead I visited some children’s resale clothing stores I had been wanting to check out. Then I went to the grocery store and got one of those giant chocolate chip cookies for Noah.

I came home and we decorated the dining room with some streamers and balloons, and put candles in the big cookie. When we brought Noah home we yelled “SURPRISE!!” when he walked in the room.

On his birthday, he kept trying to arrange for people to yell surprise as he walked into the cake room, but it never really panned out for him, so we played it all out that afternoon. He was surprised and we had to explain that we wanted to celebrate his special day. While eating his cookie slice, he kept saying repeatedly, “Thank you for my celebration, Mom and Dad!” and “I love you, Mom.”, “I love you, Dad”.


Our schedules are changing up a bit as he used to have his nap at preschool, and now he has to take one at home after school. It’s been tough trying to get him to go up and lay down after an exciting day. But he will also be spending more time at home since I will be picking him up after school, instead of Daddy doing it after work. I think more time at home might add up to a happier child as well.

Last night, as I lay in bed with him after story time, he told me, “I’m really getting to be a big boy, aren’t I?”

Yeah, baby, you are.