We have made it through the first week of school! And Kiera is still excited to get up and go to school! In fact, we actually get there early. She prefers the school breakfast to breakfast at home…unless we have bacon. Then she is content to eat at both places.
We’re excited with her positive reports when she comes home and how happy she is. It has calmed my mama nerves some. I’ll be honest, I still wish I could randomly text or call her teacher just to see how she is doing, but I have kept myself in check. I’m trying to ease up on the “helicopter mom” syndrome. I think I am doing fairly well.
It’s interesting to watch how Kiera’s first week of school has impacted her. Friday night, we were all sitting in the living room watching a movie. As the end drew near, Kiera walked over to me and said, “Mommy, would you play with me?”
“Of course, “I responded.
“I’ll be right back,” she stated as she turned and walked into her playroom. I turned my attention back to the movie.
A few minutes later, I noticed that she had set up a small tea party beside the couch where I sat. It was complete with stuffed animals, plastic food, teacups, and saucers. I waited for her to tell me she was ready but instead she turned and went back to her playroom.
Moments passed and she came back into the living room. This time she was carrying her art supplies. She took out a coloring book and crayons and laid them in a spot on the floor. Then she moved over a few steps and laid out paper and markers.
I assumed that she had changed her mind and was planning to color instead of having a tea party. I assumed wrong. Shocker, I know.
“Daddy,” she said as she stood in the middle of the living room. “Mommy, we are going to play centers.”
For those of you not familiar with centers, they are usually stations that are divided up so children can take turns playing in a certain area. Usually, they will have a certain amount of time and then they can move to another station or center.
Aaron and I glanced at each other as she made her announcement before we both crawled into the floor.
“Daddy, you are at this center,” she motioned him over to the coloring page that she had set out for him. “And Mommy, you are at this center.” She handed the paper and markers to me as I lay on the floor.
Glancing around, I noticed a coloring book lying off to the side. I picked it up and was quickly corrected. “No. No. That is not in your center.” She gently took the coloring book from me and handed me a stack of blank paper. “This is for you. Draw a heart for me.”
I picked up a marker and deciding that I was being a good student she walked to the small picture table, which I am fairly certain was serving as her desk. She picked up a notepad and pencil that she had conveniently stashed on the table while we were watching the movie. “Now, I am going to call your name and you raise your hand.”
“Ro?” she said my name and looked around the room. I restrained myself from looking around the room and raised my hand.
She smiled at me, made a mark on her notepad and said, “Good.”
“Aaron?” she said as she looked around the living room again as if she was searching a crowd. Aaron raised his hand and was graced with a smile.
“I am your teacher. Now, we will take turns playing at our centers. You have five minutes before we change,” she stated as she stood up from her stool.
She made her way to me and looked over my hearts that I had drawn. “That is good. Very pretty,” she said. “Now, I brought these for you to glue on your heart.”
Imagine my amusement and surprise, when she reached in her pocket and pulled out a handful of acorns. It was like she had planned it! She picked a glue stick off the coffee table and handed it to me with the acorns.
“Put the acorn on the glue stick and then glue it on the line of your heart,” she explained.
I took the glue stick and acorn and did as she requested, placing the acorn on the heart.
“Very good,” she praised me before moving on to Aaron to discuss whether he should use scissors to cut out the car that he had drawn or whether to leave it on the paper. She finally agreed that he did not have to cut it out and gave him a sticker before moving back to me.
“Did you finish?” she asked as she leaned over my paper.
“Yes. Look,” I said, pointing out my acorn lined heart.
“Ohh… I should have brought more home.” She sighed quietly as she looked at the space between the acorns. “But, you did a good job.” Smiling at me she stood back up and headed back to her ‘desk.
Aaron and I managed to finish our projects, clean up and talk our “teacher” into going to bed.
However, I am concerned that she fears she will have a shortage of art supplies, i.e. acorns. I know many teachers worry about running out of supplies… I am assuming this is Kiera’s fear because it has resulted in a general hoarding of acorns. She is packing them in her pockets and bringing them home. I have found them in the washer, dryer, vacuum, on the table, and as she changed out of her school clothes tonight, another 37 acorns rolled out of her pocket.
I think we may have to have an intervention… or maybe I can convince her that her teacher would prefer to use them instead… nah, I’m not that mean.
Rowonna McNeely is a graphic artist for Willie’s T’s Screenprint & Embroidery. She is a mother of a five-year-old girl and step mother of two adult girls. Her crazy life includes a dog, Sloane and psychotic cat, Gracie. Both females. She is married to her prince, who is outnumbered by the opposite gender.
