Skip to main content

One Year of Pre-K

 I made several miscalculations while planning my child's school year. Number one: I had him going in on Wednesdays and Fridays. This means, from every Saturday to Tuesday span, he could forget the rigors of education, and get into a different routine, and basically become a non-student.


Then, every Wednesday morning: a nightmare scenario. I have to do THIS again???

My error. Also, I think, twice, I sent Josh to school in shorts whose waistbands were too "generous." When I arrived in the afternoon, the teacher took a deep breath and said, "Joshie's pants fell down." I have worked with children; I can imagine that billowy pants are not something you want on your agenda as you paint, and corral, and unpack, and soothe, and clean. I think the pants scenario is good for a post on the site Am *I* the asshole? And I know the answer. I know it in my heart.

Finally, I erred in thinking my child might have a bad time. Yes, transitions were difficult, but in the afternoon, my son would come home with paper penguins, paper stovepipe hats, flamingos, a bird house, a glitter mosaic, a hand-decorated cup for Passover. I know that school was a joyful place; I know from the videos. There was singing, scavenger-hunting, costuming, crafting, feasting. If you show Josh an image of a classmate on your phone, he lights up. And his patience for books has grown at least a bit over several months.

We're reading "Caps for Sale," "The Legend of Old Befana," "The Cut-Ups," and "In the Night Kitchen." I confess I have no idea what "Night Kitchen" wants to impart, and I'm not sure Sendak was sober when he was writing, but I enjoy the airplane made out of bread dough.

That's all for now.

P.S. Covid was happening, through all of this. But my child's teacher ran a tight ship.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

How to Host a Baby

-You have assumed responsibility for a mewling, puking ball of life, a yellow-lab pup. He will spit his half-digested kibble all over your shoes, all over your hard-cover edition of Jennifer Haigh's novel  Faith . He will eat your tables, your chairs, your "I {Heart] Montessori" magnet, placed too low on the fridge. When you try to watch Bette Davis in  Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte , on your TV, your dog will bark through the murder-prologue, for no apparent reason. He will whimper through Lena Dunham's  Girls , such that you have to rewind several times to catch every nuance of Andrew Rannells's ad-libbing--and, still, you'll have a nagging suspicion you've missed something. Your dog will poop on the kitchen floor, in the hallway, between the tiny bars of his crate. He'll announce his wakefulness at 5 AM, 2 AM, or while you and another human are mid-coitus. All this, and you get outside, and it's: "Don't let him pee on my tulips!" When...

Joshie

  When I was growing up, a class birthday involved Hostess cupcakes. Often, the cupcakes would come in a shoebox, so you could taste a leathery residue (during the party). Times change. You can't bring a treat into a public school, in 2024, because heaven knows what kind of allergies might lurk, in unseen corners, in the classroom. But Joshua's teacher will allow: a dance party, a pajama day, or a guest reader. I chose to bring a story for Joshua's birthday (observed), but I didn't think through the role that anxiety might play in this interaction. We talk, in this house, quite a bit about anxiety; one game-changer, for J, has been a daily list of activities, so that he knows exactly what to expect. He gets a look of profound satisfaction when he sees the agenda; it doesn't really matter what the specific events happen to be. It's just about knowing, "I can anticipate X, Y, and Z." Joshua struggled with his celebration. He wore his nervousness on his f...

Josh at Five

 Joshie's project is "flexibility"; the goal is to see that a plan is just an idea, not a gospel, not a guarantee. This is difficult. Yesterday, we went to a restaurant--billed as "open," with unlocked doors--and the owner informed us of an "error in advertising." But Joshie couldn't accept the word "closed." He threw himself on the floor, then climbed on the furniture. I felt for the owner, until he nervously made a reference to "the glass windows." He imagined that my child might toss himself through a sealed window, like Mary Katherine Gallagher, or like Bruce Willis, in "Die Hard." Then--thank the Lord!--I was able to laugh. The thing that really has therapeutic value for Joshie is: a firetruck. If we are out in public, and he spots a parked truck, he wants to climb on each surface. He breathlessly alludes to the wheels, the door, the windows. If an actual fire station ("fire ocean," in Joshie's parla...