Kindergarten Is Hard on Parents, Too

Keir: Yesterday, Felix's very first day of kindergarten, went pretty well, I think, although it was really designed more for parents than for kids. After two hours of learning the rules and finding his way around--amid a crowd of kids and parents--he was done. But we think his teacher, Mrs. Parker, will be great. She did manage a little floor time with the kids and that was fun to watch. She used a frog puppet named Kelso, who was also shy about his first day at school, to put the kids at ease. Felix and Cosmo still really love to talk to puppets and it's so watching their faces when they do so--they fully enter the puppet reality. When Mrs. Parker told the kids that they could each bring Kelso home for a weekend, Felix raised his hand. "I'd really like to bring Kelso
home for the weekend, but I can't," he said. "We don't have any flies at our house."

Marya: Dropping Felix off this morning, for his first full day, was great. He was so excited, he ran straight for his teacher, then proceeded to run around with the mob of kids who were running around in circles. I was teary as I walked away, looking back and seeing him - a boy growing up, excited to be part of a new group. Then I realized I was clutching his backpack and had to go back, which sort of broke the moment.