All prepped and (almost) ready to hit kindergarten

by Dr. Heather Bozant Witcher

By Dr. Heather Bozant Witcher
Clarion Herald

Kindergarten – prepped, ready and here we come!

Except … kindergarten hasn’t come! Not yet anyway.

All summer, I had been preparing myself for this transition to help my twins. I had blocked out the first half of August so that we could have fun in the last two weeks without daycare. With a start date of Aug. 7, that would still give me time to prep and finish syllabi for the fall classes I teach.

I had gathered first readers and math counting blocks. I asked for the school schedule so we could spend extended time working on activities and lessons. And, of course, I had hidden some old favorite toys so that when they reappeared, they would be like new.

Toward the end of July, we began talking about changes and transitions and about how feeling nervous, anxious or scared was OK. I told them that every year, I have a first day of school too – and I still get the fluttery, butterfly feeling before I enter the classroom and meet my new students.

We were feeling confident. They were getting excited. School uniforms arrived, and we put them on to see just how much older they looked. (Spoiler alert: So much.) And then, the email came.

We made the decision to send the boys to the new school that was opening up in the fall. They would be among the “founding” children; we would be the “founding” families. All summer, I had anxiously been watching the construction process. Surely, it would all work out.

Due to a delay in air conditioning installation, the start of school was pushed back to Aug. 21. I read that email at least three times. What did they say about best-laid plans?

I was selfish in my initial reaction – what about my work? Despite their delay, my university start date was right on track: Aug. 19. How in the world was I going to get my act together with start dates so closely aligned?

But, second in my mind was all of the hype that we had built for the start of school. There was still anxiety; the wakeups at night had begun and they would both ask whether they had to go to kindergarten. How would this affect them?

It turns out an additional two weeks of summer is probably just what we all needed. Their imaginations have gone wild creating stories and acting them out. The bug collection continues to grow. Water days have become all the rage.

And amid that excitement, their anxiety seems lessened. Who knows? It’ll likely come back again in the days leading up to the new start date. But for now, we’ll enjoy the extra time. And somehow, all those syllabi will be finished.

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