At The Bus Stop

Today is Ben's second day of Kindergarten, and the first "real" day, since he will have all 22 kids in his class today (last week only a few kids went each day) and he rode the bus for the first time this morning.

The weather was not cooperating this morning -- it was cool and raining, two things which are very unusual around here... it hardly ever rains in the morning, here. It is also cool today, with the high temp only supposed to be 69 today. This totally threw me for a loop since Ben has not worn long pants a single day in about four months now, and I was expecting another few weeks of shorts weather so I had to revise his second day outfit in a hurry. And since it was raining this morning he wore a rain coat over his cute polo shirt so you can't even see it... sigh...

Anyway bear in mind as you view the pictures below that the rain was severely impeding my picture-taking, since I did not want to get the camera wet.

Ben did fine getting on the bus -- the rain seemed to help his mood because he enjoyed holding the umbrella -- and he lined up with his friends Carson (who is in first grade) and fellow Kindergartener Matthew, so that they could sit three to a seat together.

Becca waited for the bus very happily, saying "I go bus! I go bus!" to anyone who would listen. Then when Ben got on the bus and she did not, she had a little meltdown: "Why Ben go bus? Why Ben go bus? I want go bus! I want go bus!" She kept it up the whole drive to preschool.

It seemed to me as though the bus drove away very fast with my little boy on it, and I thought I had not given him enough advice like "Don't leave your backpack on the bus," but hopefully he'll be okay! My little boy is all grown up!

Sound Sleeper

In preparation for Ben having to catch the bus every morning at precisely 7:54 a.m, I bought him an alarm clock for his room. I set it for 7am, so that by the time I finish getting dressed myself and head upstairs he'll already be up and (hopefully) be getting his clothes on.

This morning was the first time we put the alarm clock into use. It has several settings, and I thought I had put it on "chime" which would be a less obnoxious noise to wake up to than the regular alarm clock noise. Unfortunately, I must have set it wrong because when it went off it sounded like one of those horribly obnoxious old fashioned alarm clocks: 'BBRRRRRRIIIIIINNNNNNNGGGGGGGG...."

I hurried upstairs, figuring that Ben hadn't remembered how to shut it off like I showed him, since it was still going off. But when I got to his room I was amazed (and dismayed) to see that Ben was still asleep! I turned off the alarm and went back downstairs to finish getting dressed.

A few minutes later I went back upstairs to wake Ben up. He sat up groggily and said, "Why didn't my alarm go off?"

Eilat Sweepers Vs. Jaffa Jazz

If you've never had the opportunity to watch 4- and 5-year-olds play soccer, I highly recommend it. Not only is there the high drama of whether or not someone will actually score a goal, there are also plenty of tantrums on the field, kids kicking the ball the wrong way, tripping their teammates in an effort to get the ball for themselves, etc. Despite the near 90 degree heat, it was a very entertaining experience.

Ben's team is the Eilat Sweepers in case you can't read his jersey. He played pretty well for his first time; he is pretty fast so he had a couple of drives down the field but lost the ball at the end. He seems to like the running part, not so much the kicking-in-between-other-people's-feet part. On the way home I reminded him that since he was wearing shin gaurds, he doesn't have to be afraid to get in there with the other kids and try to get the ball. He said, "I'm not afraid, mom! There was just no room for me in there!"

Becca Gets Her Groove On

While Joel was doing his fantasy football draft this afternoon, I took the kids to see Secret Agent 23 Skidoo at The Evening Muse in the section of downtown (uptown?) known as NoDa. (Wow I got a lot of links in there!) Since I am not cool enough to hang out in NoDa except when I am taking my kids to a kids' concert (which I am sure does not count as being cool), it was my first trip to that part of town.

Despite the fact that we all seem to be having a bit of an "off" weekend -- a lot of crankiness and whininess all around, myself included -- the kids seemed to enjoy themselves and had a good time. Afterwards we shared a dessert crepe down the street at a place called The Crepe Cellar, which was remarkable only for its exceedingly slow service (had to wait for said crepe for about 35 minutes, with two antsy kids, during which time Ben spilled a Shirly Temple all over the table and Becca threw about six tantrums).

The Evening Muse was very small and very crowded, so my video footage of Becca getting her groove on (while wearing her pink scratch-n-sniff watermelon Phillies hat) is limited because I was behind her. But, you'll get the idea anyway. The song she's dancing to is a hip-hop version of the Aesop's fable about the ant and the grasshopper. In case you were wondering.

First Day of School

Ben's first day of kindergarten has come and gone... Oh how it seems like just yesterday I was "elementary school shopping" online prior to our move to Charlotte and oh how far off kindergarten seemed then, practically three years ago now...

For all the nostalgia, Ben's first day was pretty anti-climactic. Maybe it's because I didn't put him on the bus this morning, deciding to drive him instead since I hadn't met his teacher and needed to drop off some paperwork. He seemed a little shy but otherwise fine when I dropped him off, and his teacher seems very nice. He helped her unpack his ton of school supplies, and she showed him his cubby and his desk (or, rather, his seat at one of the little tables) and then it was time for me to go.

I thought about him all day of course, and when I picked him up at the JCC after school he was very happy to see me and gave me lots of hugs. After giving him the third degree about his day, here is what I got out of him:

1. There were 6 kids in his class today, but on Monday (the first day all the kids go at once) there will be 22. He could not remember a single one of their names (must take after Joel that way).

2. He played on the monkey bars at recess

3. He bought "pizza sticks" in the cafeteria for lunch (and he called them "the goodest things I ever had")

4. He made a school bus out of a graham cracker, yellow frosting, oreos and cereal, and then ate it.

5. He rode on the JCC bus after school and the bus driver was his camp counselor, Marcus.

6. He played an Indiana Jones computer game after school

Upon questioning him about the artwork I found in his backpack, about if he had story time, circle time, or any other kind of time that didn't involve food or recess, I got noncomittal responses.

No homework yet -- at least not for Ben. I have already received a huge packet of materials requesting me to join the PTA (I did), volunteer at a bazillion different events (I signed up for the book fair and the spring carnival), order a year book (no), order a school directory (yes), order school spirit wear (I ordered Ben a t shirt that says "Watch Me Like A Hawk" --after the school's mascot), sell Citipass books (Citipass books, anyone? Maybe Joel can sell some for me, we know how much he loves them), re-link my grocery card so that 2% of store-brand purchases go to support the school (did that)... hmm I am sure there was some other stuff in there somewhere. I feel as though the checkbook came out at least three times while I was filling out those forms... oh well.

Anyway, I did not get a picture of Ben on his first day, but on Monday I will try to snap a picture of him boarding the school bus for the first time! Wish me luck with that.

There Are No Index Cards Left in Charlotte

Maybe a slight exaggeration. But, today is the first day of school here in Charlotte, and certain supplies have become rather scarce. You may have thought, from reading this blog, that I already bought Ben all his school supplies. I may have thought so too. And then last week while we were away a letter came from his teacher, with an additional list of supplies. These included colored pencils, index cards and a box to hold them in, water colors, dry erase markers, glue, hand sanitizer, a plain white t shirt, a box of ziploc baggies, a zippered pencil pouch...

So tonight I went out in search of all these additional things, and after visiting 2 stores found everything except the index cards and the dry erase markers. Ben's new backpack is crammed completely full. Fortunately most of these supplies will be remaining at school and not coming home with him on a daily basis! I'll hopefully have one more shot tomorrow at locating the elusive dry erase markers and index cards, before his first day Thursday.

Boy and his Cat

Today Ben told me he loves Ulysses "the bestest" out of everyone in our family. Thanks, Ben ;) Am I at least second?