First Day of Kindergarten

Today was Troy's first day in kindergarten at Liberty Christian...or half day, I should say. They're easing the kids (and probably the teachers too) back into school this week by doing a couple of half days before going full time next week. We already botched things up with the new routine. First, it was a struggle to get Troy up 30 minutes earlier. He was not liking that at all. He was a limp noodle in my arms all the way downstairs, and then he just laid on the couch in a useless pile. Then, we struggled to get through our own  individual task lists. It dawned on me too late that I wanted to take a picture of him on his first day, so we had to rush it as they were hurrying out the door. So, it's a nicely backdropped picture of Troy frowning in front of the laundry room door.

Troy was less than thrilled with me taking his picture. Partly because he was tired, but mostly because he was less than thrilled with his new uniform. He didn't like the buttons and collar on the shirt or the fact that my wife bought it a size too large to accommodate any mid-year growth. He didn't like the fact that he had to unhook and hook the shorts to get them off and on while going to the bathroom. And he absolutely HATED the fact that he had to tuck his shirt into his shorts. To be perfectly honest, I can understand this one. I'm not a big fan of the shirt tuck either.

Despite all of this, my wife somehow managed to get Troy to school on time, and he wasn't too clingy with the drop-off. She said he seemed distracted by all of the chaos and hustle and bustle around the school. He also struck up a conversation with the little boy next to him at his table, so that helped. The real issue occurred with the pick-up. 

First, I wasn't clear on what time they were getting out. I mean "half day" could mean a lot of different things. So, I showed up a half an hour late. Although, this was my own fault, because they had sent an email with the exact times of dismissal, which I didn't read. In my defense, it was buried in my inbox with the literally 32 other emails that I received from Liberty in the past month. They are great at communicating, but frankly it's overwhelming, esp. to a guy that rarely ever logs on to check his email. Needless to say, I THOUGHT I was on time or even a little early, but sadly I wasn't.

I pulled around the corner into the driveway of the school and was stopped in a line 10 feet from the traffic light. What I didn't realize at the time was that it was all cars going to the upper school. I sat there for around seven minutes before I saw another car bypass the entire line and drive past on its way to the lower school. So, I pulled over into the turn lane and headed past the relatively stagnant line too. When I got to the pick-up circle, there wasn't a single car in line. There was a few parents doing walk-ups, but no cars. I wasn't entirely sure where I was going or if I was even in the right place, so I pulled over and talked to the principal, who was standing on the sidewalk jovially greeting the parents. He directed me where to go (ten feet from where I had parked), and it turned out that I was just late.

The pick-up was pretty smooth, which could have mostly been because I was the only one there and the teacher doing the exchange didn't have to stress about a line of cars to service. She read the number and name off the tag in my front window, acquired a child that looked strangely familiar to me (albeit a little older looking with a few more lines around his eyes, like he'd seen some things), and deposited him into the backseat of my car. As we drove out of the school, the conversation with Troy went something like this:

Me: "Hey man, I'm sorry you had to wait. I didn't know where I was going or what time to pick you up."

Troy: "You were late, but that's okay. There were a lot of other kids whose parents were late too. We were all waiting together."

Me: "I'm so sorry, bud. Were you waiting a long time?"

Troy: Yes, but it's okay, dada."

Me: "Well, I appreciate your grace, bud. How are you?"

Troy: "Good."

Me: "How was your first day?"

Troy: "Good."

Me: "Did you meet anyone new?"

Troy: "Yes."

Me [biting back my frustration]: "And?"

Troy: "They are good."

Me: "What were their names?"

Troy: "I can't remember."

Me: "Did you eat any of your lunch today?"

Troy: "No."

Me: "Why not?"

Troy: "Because they wouldn't let us."

Me: "They wouldn't let you eat at all?"

Troy: "No."

Me: "Hmmm, I guess that's because it's a half day. So, do you want a piece of cheese or some nuts."

Troy: "Yes."

Me: "Which one?"

Troy: "Both."

Me [handing him the bag of snacks]: "Okay...so, what did you do today?"

Troy: "I can't remember."

Me: "But it was good?"

Troy: "Yep."

...a minute later, my wife called...

My Wife: "How's the baby?!"

Me: "He's fine...eating on a stick of cheese at the moment."

My Wife: "Well, that's good."

Me: "No, I mean he's literally 'fine,' as in that's pretty much all I could get out of him about his day. The answer to every question was 'fine.' I'm getting one-word answers to everything."

My Wife [laughing]: "Well, that's okay. He's probably tired."

Troy: "I'm 'good,' not 'fine'! You're wrong, dada. I didn't say I was 'fine.' I said I was 'good.'"

Me: "You're right, my apologies. Okay, I just got more words out of him chewing me out for using the wrong word than I got from any of his responses!"

My Wife [laughing]: "If he's chewing you out, then I guess he's fine then."

Me: "No, he's 'good,' not 'fine.'"

My Wife [laughing]: "Right. Got it."