First Day of School

My baby started school this year.

I miss him already.

They lost him twice the first day.

I warned the teacher that he would be a flight risk. Being the fourth child, he is a little more independent than the other kids. I told his teacher that if he gets bored he will go and find something more interesting to do. If he is really bored, he may decide to go home. He does know how to get home from school.

When I asked him why he left his class, he told me "You left me there a really, really long time. You shouldn't do that. I just missed you, missed you, missed you."

I think it will take him a while to get used to the idea that school is different. I am still not 100% convinced that school is the best thing for him...it is all about conformity. I like his independence. I like that he can entertain himself. I know that there is a time and a place, but sometimes school really tries to knock that independence and individuality out of kids.

 I have really struggled to find a balance between listening, doing what is right and maintaining the ability to choose for yourself. I really noticed with my oldest that the more time she spent in school the more she lost the ability to choose for herself. She is always waiting for someone to tell her what she is supposed to do next. How she is supposed to write or draw. She lost a lot of her imagination. I am working on getting her to relearn how to use her imagination again and make her own decisions. She is slowly improving but it is a lot of work. I have been working on my boys. I would homeschool, but the boys want to go to school.

The second day of school went much better and my boy did not get lost once. He told me he would never do it again. When I picked him up after the second day, he didn't see me and I was able to watch him go to his locker, get his backpack, change his shoes and put on his vest. He looked so big and he knew exactly what he was supposed to do. When he came home I read him a story and stopped before the end and had him draw out what he thought would happen...his idea was awesome.