Replies

Good morning all....its a sunny, warmish type day here, late summer and early autumn are awesome here in the Pacific Northwest....warmish, dry,(The ever present rains cease during this time), clear skies allowing us to see our mountain ranges, and the bright colors of fall leaves make you smile....

The children here do not return to school until after Labor Day, so they are out now, in full force, enjoying their last few days of freedom...then in a week, they will be lined up in front of my house, waiting for the bus...I always get a kick out of watching them fiddle around, while waiting for the bus...there will be the usual contingent of moms, sending their dear ones off to school, some used to this routine, others doing it for the first time, sending their first child off to kindergarten...a big day for the newbies....

I remember Andys first day of school...he was so very excited to be going to school....he already knew how to read, quite well, as I had taught him at home, not because I was such a good mother, but because Andy demanded I teach him when he was only 4yrs old...he loved to have me read to him when a small one, and one day at age 4 he marched into the front room, with his usual pile of books...Mike had already gone off to school for the day...

Andy just looked at me, and said, he was tired of my having to read to him everyday, he wanted to be able to read for himself...he already knew all his letters and the sounds they made....I had kept all of Mikes papers and such from his earliest school days, so I dug them out, and worked with Andy...Mike had gone to private school while we were living in Chicago(Chicago public schools in general, suck), and at this private school they used what the called the 'open court' method of teaching the children to read...its really a wonderful teaching method, completely phonetic, and even the slowest child could easily learn this method and be reading well...so I began with Andy, and by the end of the day, he was reading by himself, thrilled with his success, and he has never stopped reading since...

So when he was off to his first day of kindergarten, he fully expected that it would just be a continuation of my teaching him at home...we were now living in North Carolina...first of school for Andy, involved many kids, going to school for the first time, never having really been away from their moms for any extended period...lots of kids crying, clinging to their moms, and the usual first day jitters...

Andy had come prepared to work..he had his little Mickey Mouse School Bag, that Mike had used in kindergarten, and Andy had packed it full of paper, pencils, erasers, rules, and all the usual school gear...he was anxious to get to work...

The teacher had put out coloring books for those kids who seemed happy enough to occupy themselves, while she tried to deal with the jittery mom, with the crying and clinging kids...Andy started to get bored, noting that coloring was fine, for a while, but he wanted to get started learning...His eyes began to well up with tears, not because he was upset at being in school, but because the teacher was not teaching....he told me he wanted to go home...but just at that moment, all the moms had left, and crying kids had settled down, and the teacher called the class to order...

Andy just straightened up, he got a smile, and told me to go home, now they were going to learn...he was so happy...

Now, he did not want to ride the bus to school the first day...he wanted me to take him in the car, and pick him up at the end of the day...just for the first day...after that he said he would ride the bus...So I obliged and did take him...I think he had me do that for his first day, so he could make a fast getaway if he needed to...

But once the teacher had called the class to order, he gave me walking papers, and said to come pick him up after school...

I went home, did my housework, and at the proper time, went back to school to get him...he did not want me to come into the school again, just park in the school parking lot, and he would find me....I got to the school a little early, so as to get a good parking space...I heard the school bell ring, releasing the kids...I then watched for Andy to be coming out of school..

A few kids started coming out...and here came Andy, running and whizzing out of the door(obviously disobeying the teachers usual instructions, not to run)...I could see this big grin on his face, and saw his Mickey Mouse School Bag, flapping in the wind, as he ran...he looked so very excited, and I was excited as well, to hear about his first day of school...

He jumped into the car, threw down his trusty, beloved Mickey Mouse School Bag, and with his eyes flashing, and a huge wicked grin on his lips, he proclaimed "Mom, a kid bit the teacher"....he was so taken aback at that occurance, that it seemed to eclipse anything else that happened that day...I never will forget the look on his face, as he revealed to me, the hightlight of his first day of school...

I am sure we all have tales of our childrens first day of school, for they are all memorable stories of our kids lives...

Andy has always had a life long love of learning, reading, and information seeking, that seemed to start when he was just a small boy, and continues to this day...

Thanks, Andy, for being my boy(tho you are a grown man approaching 30), and giving your old mom some wonderful memories...