First day and week...

The weather on Paige's first day of school was the kind that you would want as a child--freezing cold where your new fall clothes would be appropriate.  I remember boiling in my first day of school clothes year after year.  But yes, it was very very cold out and Paige needed to wear her size 2 fall coat, mitts and boots for good measure.  By the end of the day she didn't need any of it to walk home, and I brought along her shoes.  But boy that morning was cold.  She wore her short sleeved sweater dress and grey tights.  I had to prep her about going to the bathroom with a dress and the unfortunate circumstance which happens to some girls in which their dress gets stuck in their undies. 

Mike went to work at his usual late-ish time so we could all walk together. 

Paige's backpack is too heavy for her to carry all the way to school with her water bottle and 2 icepacks in it. 

We wanted to get a picture in front of the school.  She really really wanted to show off her mitts. 

Her class filing into the school. The girl with the wheely backpack behind her is her friend at school now.  I don't know what's with these other kids...we were super cold, as I have said, and they don't seem phased at all!

So that's the routine every day.  Walk to school, drop her off behind that gate you see in the background where she lines up with her class in the fenced in area, and then wait till she goes in the school.  There are 4 kindergarten classes at a time so it was a bit of confusion and nerves for her on the first day, but now she is fine to head through the gates and line up with her class.  So far I have been staying and waiting until she walks into the school, but technically I could leave  as soon as she goes through the gates as it is supervised.  I don't mind waiting while the weather is nice, but Rose does get fed up after a few minutes of sitting in her stroller. 

It's really hard to talk to Paige about school as she doesn't really want to tell me about it.  She is a bit embarrased to tell me what she did with her friends and what they did during the day.  I think that she just isn't quite used to the whole thing yet.  So far she has told me that there are different centers set up in the classroom--reading, playdough, kitchen, etc.  Also she has ridden in a car thing at reccess.  There is a highschool student with a guide dog that comes to help in the room every day...I was totally confused as to why Paige kept saying there was a "working dog" in her class when I didn't see any disabled or blind kids in her class, but then a note was sent home about it all.  She thinks this is neat.  So far she's done pretty well on her lunch.  I try not to give her too many treat-like options so that she still eats her fruit, but it's really a trial and error to see how much food she'll eat. 

And no accidents yet! Knock on wood! I'm amazed! She's going at school everyday no problem.  Phew!

Apparently on Tuesdays they have music, on Thursdays they have library and gym, and Fridays they have drama in addition to their regular day. 

I see her teacher every day when the class walks out of the school.  So far her comments have been that Paige is doing well, she has become a real chatterbox compared to the first week, and one day she was very tired...also that day she didn't finish her lunch which makes me wonder if she just had no energy...she ate her grapes the instant I opened them up before even getting on her bike to leave the school.  Oh yes, Paige rides her bike to school and we lock it up outside.  She's really reckless though and doesn't understand the rules of the sidewalk and actually had a head-on collision with another kid.  Today we were all set to walk in the rain with her new umbrella and it stopped raining.  She then wanted to go home to get her new bike and was upset when I said we couldn't. 

There is an open house this Wednesday night, so we may go see her classroom and get her to show us around--maybe that will prompt her to fill us in a bit more on what she does at school.