Day 9

Yesterday seemed to be a better day.  Gray was excited to go to school, and was in a great mood when he came home.  I made sure he got a snack and some down time right away and it really seemed to help him get through the rest of the afternoon and evening. 

I love Mondays because it's the day that Gray has art.  I love seeing what he has created when he comes home from school.  Yesterday was fish and they were great!!  He did a great job drawing the fish, and I loved seeing Gray's creativity come through with the colors and stripes that adorned his creations.

Gray talks more and more about the kids he plays with.  Paige is a common name that comes up, mostly because he sits next to her, I think.  He gets excited when he learns the name of a new friend and remembers it long enough to tell me what it is when he gets home.  I'm looking forward to the Open House in a few weeks so that I can try to put some names and faces together.

When we were talking about his day at dinner, Gray casually mentioned something about his teacher that immediately put me on alert.  I emailed his teacher this morning in the hopes of getting some more feed back from her and am probably going to drive Gray to school tomorrow just to have an excuse to pop in and check things out.  I'm sure everything will be great, and as long as Gray continues to come home happy and seems to enjoy school, I'm going to try my best not to get overly concerned.  I just have to say, though, that home schooling sounds more and more appealing every day.

Day 8

My heart was too heavy to actually write anything here on Friday.  I was still upset with Gray for the poor choices he had made the day before.  I worried most of the day over a phone call I had made to his teacher and the speculations I made from a conversation I had with a neighbor about his teacher.  I felt relieved when Gray came home claiming he had had a great day, and then quickly became overwhelmingly sad when I found a note from his teacher in his backpack explaining that Gray had made yet another poor choice with his scissors.  My heart literally hurt as I tried to rack my brain and figure out what could possibly be going on with my boy. 

He lost TV.  He lost his trip to the creek.  We talked, and talked, and talked some more.  I tried to get him to talk about school as much as I could to get a better understanding of what might be causing him to act out in this way. 

I had a small "Aha" moment over the weekend when I was wondering about what exactly Gray's teachers are expecting him to cut.  It's pure speculation on my part, but my guess is that he's bored.  Gray has been using scissors for the past 2 1/2 years.  The boy knows how to cut.  So my guess is that he's not really engaged with what he's supposed to be doing. 

This doesn't make his choices ok, though.  Not even a little.  We still need to get to the bottom of things and find out what is really going on.  I have plans to talk with Gray's teacher, to get a little more information about the school day and what his teacher's expectations are.  I'll do whatever it takes to get us all through this.

Day 7

He cut his flippin' hair again.  At School.  On picture day.

Day 6

We had kind of a rough start to the day today when Gray decided he wanted to wear his Batman costume to school.  I'm all for independence in the clothing department and Gray usually chooses his own clothes and gets dressed before I get to his room each morning.  I try to be okay with his choices even when I don't really "appreciate" the style Gray is going for.  But today I had to draw the line.  And things got a little ugly.  And so I forgot to take a picture this morning (even though I did walk out the door with it).

So, I made up for it by taking one at the park this afternoon.

I've been struggling to understand this boy that gets off of the bus each afternoon, the one who greets me happily enough and then quickly turns into a mouthy, rude, obnoxious little boy who tries to test his limits as far as they will stretch (and my patience with it).  I knew that we would experience some of this, and I get it, I really do.  But I absolutely do NOT have to like it.  It's not fun for anybody involved and by the time bedtime rolls around our nerves are all kind of shot. 

I swore today would be different.  I thought and thought about what I could do to make it an easier transition to go from school to home.  The one thing I came up with is trying to get Gray moving to work off some of the extra pent-up energy, and maybe find some neighborhood kids for him to get active with.  Today we met Gray at the bus stop and instead of coming straight back to the house, we walked right to the park.  The kids played for about 35 minutes and then we walked home.  He still tested me, but it was better, more bearable.  He'll be starting swimming soon, and possibly soccer or gymnastics, and I really hope that funneling his energy in those activities will help with the attitude at home.  Or at least use enough energy that he's too tired to talk.  ;)

Oh, and the friend from the bus is Braden, and Gray wants to have him over for a play date, yet another thing that I will have to figure out how to navigate in this year of firsts.

Day 5

Gray seems really big to me in this picture.  Maybe it's the new shorts that actually fall below the knee. 

Gray was excited to get on the bus again this morning, and came stepping off this afternoon saying,

 "I had even MORE fun!"  I'd say things are going relatively well. 

Gray made friends with the boy he sat with on the bus the first day of school and talks about him every day when he comes home.  His job for tomorrow is to learn his friends name.  ;)

Day 4

All better!  I was really worried about what this morning would bring.  Gray did not want to get out of bed this morning and it was a struggle to get him dressed and downstairs.  Once we needed to leave for the bus, though, he really rallied.  He was excited to show Scarlett and Cameron how it was done, and kept looking back and saying "Watch guys" as he was getting on the bus.

I am feeling a little lost without my boy today.  The house just seems too quiet and empty, and the fact that I only needed to make lunch for 2 kids today kind of shocked me to the core.  I know that it's going to take time for me to adjust to having Gray away from home all day, but right not I'm really looking forward to 3:25.

Day 3

I think it's safe to say that he's feeling better, but I kept Gray home again just to be safe.  I really struggled with my decision, but in my heart I knew what I needed to do.  Hopefully Monday will go smoothly.

Kindergarten Day 2

Apparently, school must have really worn Gray down yesterday.  He woke up this morning with an upset stomach and a fever.  After sleeping 11 hours straight last night, he only managed to stay awake for about 6 hours today.  Poor guy.

Kindergarten Day 1

Gray had a great time today!  I think he's really excited to go back tomorrow.