Before the big day.

A few days ago we went to meet the teacher night at Zack's school. The poor child barely spoke with his teacher or the assistant. He begged me to ask them certain questions and rather than making him feel more anxious I did ask for him. Was it the right thing to do? I think so, rather than make him more nervous and upset, he was able to feel slightly more comfortable by hearing the answers.

What was so important?
Take a second and think the way a 5 year old would.
The most pressing question was "Do we have to take naps?" Of course he was happy to hear that nap time is a thing of the past.
He needed to know if it is alright to bring potato chips for snack time, Of course he was happy to hear the word yes (even though he does not get chips very often). He was not allowed to bring anything like that to preschool last year so this is a big thing to him.
And finally, it was really important to him to know if they get to play on both playgrounds or do they just have one to play on like in preschool. He gave a nod when the teacher told him that in kindergarten the teacher gets to choose which playground to let the kids play on that day. So there you have it, the important information a 5 year needs to know before starting such a big day in his life.

Once he received his answers he was ready to leave. It did not matter that mom and dad still needed questions answered. All I heard was I want to go home, lets leave, we can leave now, I don't want to be here. Sigh.

Yesterday, Kindergarten Eve was a weird day. When talking with my mom on the phone he was telling her that he was excited to be going to school. Shortly after he was done talking with her, he turned to me and said "Mom I am afraid to go to school." What he is afraid of is beyond me, he could not/would not tell me. He was telling people what they wanted to hear and not what he was really feeling. He was hyper all day but as it turned to evening he became super hyper. He has hyper tendency's but last night he was beyond his normal which I know means he is really anxious about something. He did not want to go to bed last night, he tried stalling. While I was reading his nightly book, he was asking questions about different pictures in the book, much more than normal. While I was singing his nightly songs, he was stopping me to ask about something from his video game. Finally I got him to calm down and go to sleep.

During the day I did make a deal with him. I told him if there was no crying and no fussiness at school I would make him whatever he wanted for dinner. What do you think he chose? Quick revert back to being a 5 year old. Chicken nuggets, french fries and apple pie with ice cream, of course.