Buddy Day

Last week Kiernan had a special event at his new school. Technically it's not his new school yet, but it will be in the fall when he starts Kindergarten. The event, as you may be able to tell from the sign, was Kindergarten Buddy Day. Kiernan and a bunch of his future classmates all showed up at the school in the middle of the day and were given a tour of the school by one of the kindergarten classes.

I've been pretty nervous about this new school. Not because there's anything wrong with it. Not at all. It's got a great reputation and Wendy has done a lot of work with the school. It's pretty close to the house and is located in a nice neighborhood. The thing that's been hard for me to adjust to mentally is how much bigger it is than his old school, CSUN Lab School.

The new school isn't big by the standards of normal city schools. It actually seems to be a pretty manageable size. It's just the comparison that has me spooked. The lab school is tiny. It feels safe and intimate. Kiernan and I have gone onto the campus at his new school a couple of times during the school day to deliver forms or pick up forms and I've just been struck by how many more kids there are, and how old they look next to him. It's an elementary school, so of course the older kids will look older. Duh. But as I carry my little boy on my shoulders to deliver immunization records (or whatever) and these bigger kids run and yell and bang into each other I feel a lump in my throat.

I had an epiphany the second time we went to the school. I suddenly flashed back to my first days at new schools when I was a kid, and how weird and nervous I sometimes felt going into a new situation. And I suddenly thought about my parents. It never occurred to me that they were probably nervous too. Nervous for me going someplace new. Especially when I transitioned from the small private school in Colorado to the large public high school in Virginia.

I don't remember them showing me that they were nervous. Maybe this was because they all worked in various schools and simply weren't nervous the way I am now. I doubt it. I think they were just doing what parents are supposed to do. Being confident so I would feel confident. Or maybe I was just oblivious to their feelings the way kids sometimes are.

Buddy Day was great for a number of reasons. For one, I could see for myself what Wendy had been trying to tell me to set me at ease, that the kindergarten classes are somewhat segregated from the rest of the elementary population. They have separate play areas and lunch times, so they won't be in danger of being trampled by the gigantic older kids. Also, the teachers seemed pretty cool. This was my first chance to meet any of them as I missed the orientation night on account of Kiernan having swim class.

But the truly cool thing about Buddy Day was watching Kiernan interact with the kindergarteners and teachers. He jumped right in. We were there but it became apparent that our presence there was really more for us than for him. Aside from checking in with us a couple of times to point out something or make a face he seemed pretty oblivious to the fact that we were there, hanging back and observing. When he needed something or wanted to ask a question, he reached out for one of his buddies--in particular this very active little dude named Buck--or asked a teacher. This was so great.

I'm not going to say I'm not nervous anymore about the bigger school, with all those bigger kids. But I've got a calmer feeling about it now. I know he'll do fine.


[Picture Note: The second picture shows him on a playground structure after Buddy Day was over. The third is just after that. I let him run around and play for a bit as Wendy had to go and do something at the school office. In this third picture he has met up with a couple of random guys from some other class. I have no idea where they came from, they just appeared from around the corner and Kiernan went over to them and they all started talking and doing stuff spontaneously.

I've got better pictures from that day, but I don't really know these kids yet so I'm not going to post them. When I can I like to get permission from parents before posting pics of other kids. I thought these two guys were far enough away in the picture so that it's not that big of a deal. It's kind of a random shot, but I like what it says about him.]