Yesterday

was the first day of school. Ruthie went to Mr Whiteman in 3rd grade. Gage went to Mr. Rus in 1st grade. I spent the morning in Kindergarten helping the best kindergarten teacher ever! She is the teacher both of my children had and I'm in awe of her and so thrilled that I get to learn from her. She is, of course, most grateful. The first few days of kindergarten are really, really hard work. I left with a migraine that lasted all night. It isn't that the children are terrible or anything like that. They are very, very sweet for the most part. However, there is nothing like spending the first morning of kindergarten watching all the different kids to give you a clear idea of why kids do better in school if they go to preschool.

One little boy had never been to preschool. He found everything about kindergarten frustrating and annoying. He was unhappy at the rules, didn't see any reason to listen to the teacher, got angry and whiney about everything, and required three times the intervention of any other child. Most of the kids went home very happy (but tired) at the end of kindergarten. This little boy went home puzzled, frustrated, and tired. Which isn't to say that every moment was negative. As I said, this teacher is awesome! I watched in amazement as she took a negative (his complete disregard of the bell she rang to get the kids' attention) into a positive by having him be the bell ringer. The look of joy and wonder on his face. Wow!

But, it was an exhausting day. Kindergarten is one of my favorite places to be and I love it there but never think that it doesn't require an amazing amount of energy to be there. My temple is throbbing just a little bit in writing about it. With any luck, today will go more smoothly. Fingers crossed!