First Day of Kindy

Today was Coop's first day of Kindy (aka Kindergarten). Well, yesterday was actually his first day, but as most of you already know, Coop came down with a virus and had to miss his real first day. Fortunately, the first 3 days of Kindy are set aside for assessment and Coop was able to go today instead. Tomorrow all the Kindy students will be there.

We wavered a bit this morning about whether or not to send Coop to school. In the end, the excitement of school won out over staying home another day.  He practically jumped into his uniform (shoes, hat, backpack and all) the minute I said he was going.  He was so proud and said, "All my friends will be so impressed with me."  

On the way to school we stopped outside our building for some photos.  Coop loved making silly faces for the camera and Tucker insisted on being included in the photos.  

The walk to school is (ideally) 10-15 minutes.  It was pouring rain and we had Tucker in the stroller so it took about 30 minutes to get there instead.  Just as we were approaching the school, Coop said to me, "Mom, I am a big boy now. You can leave me at the top of the steps and say goodbye."  What a wonderful demonstration of excitement and confidence, but you could bet your sweet bleep that that wasn't the way it was gonna be. :)  Plus, there are no stairs. He was thinking back to preschool in Tacoma.

When we arrived in the classroom, no one was there. I was a little un-nerved, but thought to myself the teachers probably had an early morning meeting and I was right. The teacher, Mr. Strath, came in a few minutes later and all was fine.  Coop sat right down and began talking with him.  He had no problems saying goodbye to me.  A quick kiss and I was off.  

I really thought I was going to be sad about leaving Coop there for his first time in big boy school, but I wasn't. I was confident that all would be okay and it was.

When I  picked Coop up he was exhausted, but happy.  He loves his school and his teacher.  He made some new friends and even was able to play with a friend we met in the spring.  His only complaints were that there was not enough time to eat his lunch and the that the teacher next door was "bossy."  

Tucker, on the other hand, was quite confused as to where his big brother and constant companion was.  As we walked home, he stopped and looked around and said, "Bu-per?" When I asked him where Cooper was, he said, "Church."  That answer cracked me up so much I had to ask him again. So a while later, I asked again and this time he said, "Far away."  I had to do it again and his next answer was, "Harbour."  I asked one final time- not to torture the kid, but because it was so cute. The last answer I got was, "Bed. Shhhh!"  I ended my interrogation there. :)

As the evening went on I got little snippets about the day.  More about the bossy teacher next store who would not let him use glue on his torn paper.  A little about the nice boy with white glasses on the playground who helped him when he was scared. Lots more about not having enough time to eat lunch.  Then, as we were playing, he got all teary-eyed.  I asked him what was wrong and he said, "Mr. Strath's dog is lost."  He told me that his teacher's dog got spooked and ran away and hasn't been seen since.  Cooper is super sensitive about animals and this news made him incredibly sad. It was heartbreaking to see.  So, we sat down to write Mr. Strath a note. It read:

Dear Mr.Strath,

I hope your dog shows up soon. I want to meet your dog. I wonder where he was the last time you saw him.

Love, Cooper

So, despite the sad news about the dog, today was a great first day of Kindy.  Everything went smoothly and Cooper is happy and ready to go tomorrow.  The last thing he said before falling asleep tonight was to Tofie (our Pug). He said, "Not now Tofie. I have to get to sleep. I have a big day tomorrow."