The Big Day

We had been building up to this moment for weeks. Months really.
And then it happened on Wednesday.

My son’s first day of Kindergarten.

We did everything we could to ease his transition. My husband and mother-in-law started taking him to the school every couple of weeks, on their Tuesday open houses at the media center, so he could meet the librarians and explore the book shelves and walk around campus.

We talked about his “big boy” school and how proud he should be. All our neighbors and friends did the same and he understood this was a big step. He felt some of that pride, I think.
Then we all went together on orientation day, to meet the teacher and let him explore his new classroom. He immediately started playing with the toys and books.

Tuesday night, the stress finally hit. Bedtime was approaching fast and I declared that computer time was over. He pitched a fit, demanding one more game on the PBS Kids website. No, I said. We’re done.

I held firm to my ground, knowing that if I gave in, then it would only teach him that temper tantrums work. So he rarely ever gives me a temper tantrum and when he does, it never lasts long.

His shouting was ferocious, as he begged and pleaded for this one last computer game. I tried to comfort him, tried to reason with him. The hour was getting late and I really needed him to go to bed.

Would one computer game have made a difference? I’m not sure. It may have satisfied this one request, but I think he would have vented his frustration in some other way. It might as well be this.

I left him in his bedroom to his shouting. Soon, I heard toys crash and bang. His plastic hamper fell and the door suffered some abuse.

Finally, Daddy came home and played good cop to my “bad cop”. The shouting continued for a while, but eventually, my little boy had to surrender to bedtime.

He persisted in his rebellion, though, and refused to get into the bed. So he fell asleep in the rocking chair.

The next morning, he complained when Daddy woke him up. I braced myself for another temper tantrum but he was too tired to fight. We got into our routine, of changing clothes and serving up a Lego waffle.


He picked out a nice “church shirt” for his first day of school. We walked outside and at first, he frowned at the picture taking. Then I asked him for a nice smile. And I actually got it.

The three of us drove to school and we escorted him to his new classroom. We took a picture of him with his new teacher. Daddy waved goodbye and I tried not to linger, but I had to give him a kiss. He smiled and sat down in his chair.