Kindergarten continued

Don't be alarmed. I have no intention of changing my blog into a day-by-day account of my child's adventures in kindergarten, but it seemed like some things bore mentioning here, now that Smunch is in his third day of kindergarten.

In a lot of ways, I'm realizing that this is my summer. The contract for my most reliable employer lapsed at the end of July. Yeah, they're renewing it, but they're being slow about it. (Thank you!) That means I don't have any work to do and since the level of babysitting I was getting is falling off rapidly, that's a good thing.

On the downside, Mam doesn't start school until after Labor Day. Well, that's not a downside really, but I've suddenly realized that I don't have a clue what to do with her all by herself. She's sitting here grinning at me like a Cheshire cat, as if to say "I'm so freakin' cute and you never had time to notice" or "I'm a complete nut job and you never noticed before." I'm not sure which.



Regardless, it's oddly relaxing to come home with no real agenda at all. Yesterday's agenda was laundry. Laundry almost never makes "the agenda" normally. It's sort of an aside to the real agenda, if it gets done at all.

Smunch still says he likes kindergarten, although I asked him who his favorite teacher was and he named the teacher who is technically an aide in his class. Not sure why. On the flip side, I am completely overwhelmed by kindergarten. And it has nothing to do with Smunch. The sheer volume of things to donate to, fundraisers, PTA, classroom volunteering, ice cream social, family picnic, walk-a-thon, phone-a-thon, "spirit wear" orders...and the list goes on and on. Tonight, they'll get their first homework. And so it begins. I'm completely paralyzed. Anyone want some cookie dough? Wrapping paper? Prefab pretzels? No?

I always wanted to be an involved parent at school, but I feel like I'm swimming in a vast sea of unfamiliarity here. And an old feeling is coming back...a feeling I haven't had since I was in school. It's that feeling of interminable school. It just stretches out in front of you forever and ever when you're little. I feel that. And it's so different from anything I felt with Smunch in preschool. Preschool was fun. This is serious business.

A friend of mine said that preschool is like a gentle stream compared to the rushing river of kindergarten. She couldn't have made a more apt comparison. I wonder if I've been swept away and I don't even know it yet!