My Dylan had his first day of third grade today. He had been sleeping in all summer and I had to wake him on Sunday morning at 10am so he'd have longer than nine hours of day time before heading back to bed. School begins at 7:40am this year so my alarm went off at 5:30am to give me enough time to have him ready and out the door without ever uttering the words hurry up. It took me reminding him that he was the class helper this week to get him to come down from his loft bed at 6am. He really didn't want to be late for his first day as class helper!
I made blueberry muffins and walked him through the morning routine of dressing, bathroom, teeth, hair, and eating. An ADHD child can't stay on target for those tasks without many distractions causing a stressful morning which is why I lightly hovered. I decided to make him a snack and lunch to take with him since it would be noon before he'd get to eat and I wanted to be sure he ate something during the day. I even let him ride in the front seat.
We had to park more than a block away which is expected on the first day and when we got to the school he politely let me know he would not let me take his picture in front of the school sign. I didn't push and let it go. When we got to the building he stopped and told me he didn't need me to walk him in the building. What?! He told me again and said, "Do not come with me." So I gave him a quick hug and he walked off with a very serious but proud expression - he had a job to do, class helper. I was able to quickly snap this picture before he disappeared.
After school we went out for ice cream which is our tradition on the first day of school. He told me during our ice cream (when I brought up not getting to walk him to his class), "Haven't you noticed that I'm in the third grade now and I don't need my mommy walking me to my class." I just smiled and chuckled. So this is how that feels.
He had a really good first day!
On a different note: Dane moped around all day saying he was bored. He said this morning he wished he could just go back to school now. Later he asked if I had ever been "banned" from anything as a child. (He is banned from the computer right now) I explained that I didn't have anything to be banned from therefore had no opportunity to be in trouble!
August 02, 2010
Congratulations to the both of you for surviving the first day of 3rd grade!