Can we please have a fire?

Brendan has been begging to have a fire in the firepit at our new house. For some reason, we finally gave in on one of the stifling hot days this August has been full of. We invited the Silers over for roasting hot dogs and smores. It would have been much more fun had it not been 95 degrees outside, but the kids didn't care and it was memorable!

'Member Me?

Poor Aidan has been getting the short end of the stick lately with all of Brendan's kindergarten hoopla! So today Aidan and I went on an adventure to Fernbank Science Center and saw some frogs/snakes/honeybees and Apollo 6. "Me see dose 'nakes, mommee!" "What's dat big shiny ting?" "Dose honeybees look happy, Mommy!"

It's free, air conditioned, just small enough for small attention spans and so reminiscent of my school days spent in the DeKalb County School system.

5 going on 17

While I may have realized the following fact in the past, it has become startling clear to me today....." Five year old boys (and 4 year olds too) are almost exactly like pubescent girls."

They are moody. They are somewhat manipulative. They swing from being fiercely independent to clingier than monkeys. They can wear their heart on their sleeves or not say a word. Loving, pushy, oohhhh the list goes on.

I should have said earlier that Brendan has an amazing memory and could have told me exactly what he did all day long at school, who he sat next to, what people ate for lunch, you get the idea. But, because he knew I wanted to know and was excited about it (and probably a little bit because he was overwhelmed and tired) he didn't say a word.

So, tonight at dinner Bryan and I casually asked a question or two about his day. We usually ask everyone at the table what the best part of their day was. Tonight he told us the following:
-He met a girl named Summer and they played on the playground.
-He played "musical dots" at P.E. or "P.G" as he called it. He said they ran around in a circle until the music stopped and they had to sit on a spot. He said he got sweaty and there was a water fountain in the gym.
-The gym teacher had a whistle and keys for every room in the school. Brendan is obsessed with keys and locks for those of you who don't know.
-They did not say the pledge of allegiance.
-He sat next to a boy named Noah at lunch. Not the Noah that Uncle Bucky and Shana know, a different one.
-If one or two kids had to use the bathroom, then everyone had to go and try to use the toilet.
-The bathroom had more than one toilet.
-They write in masking tape on the back of your shirt what method you are going home, "walker", "bus 219", etc.


He's also very insistent on walking himself to and from school and I've told him he's too young for it. He assured me that he would come wake me up and kiss me good bye before he left, but I told him no. So today I stopped to talk with another mother who was walking her kids home and I looked away for maybe a minute and Brendan had continued walking and was halfway to our house.

He's 5 going on 17.

The debriefing

Brendan is tight-lipped about kindergarten. It's almost as if in the 6 hours he was gone, he joined a "don't give mom too much information" club. When I met him to pick him up, he saw me, smiled and started to play tag with some 2nd grader in the lobby of the school. I'm just standing there feeling so replaced! Calm, cool, independent, non-plussed, just Brendan.

The walk home was torture for me. It went something like this, "So, who did you sit with in the cafeteria? Did you read any books? Did you meet any new friends? How was recess? Did you play outside or inside?" The list went on and on and each question had a one or two word answer "yeah. good." "she's nice" "lunch was good" "nice children", " yeah I want to go back tomorrow"

Bryan assured me that it is better for him to be independent and sure of himself than be sad to go to Kindergarten, but it just seems like instantly I know so little of what goes on during his day, how he treats other kids, whether he's kind or polite.

Obviously he likes Kindergarten. Aidan on the other hand started crying driving home from Target b/c he looked over at brendan's car seat and brendan wasn't there. So cute and sad at the same time.

More later.............

Off to Kindergarten!

Brendan went off to Kindergarten this morning. In typical Brendan fashion, he woke up ready to go, practically ran to school, walked in the room, sat down and didn't look back. I, of course, cried almost all the way home.

I'm really excited for him. He has a great teacher and a childhood friend is a teacher across the hall. He is so independent and ready to go I can't believe it. Somehow 5 years have elapsed since we brought him home. 7:45 to 2:20 is a long day for a 5 year old! Here are some pics! There are a few more on Flickr.     :)