Kindergarten update: William loves school!

We are into our second week of the school year and so far, so good! William walked into the school last week with the biggest smile on his face and was full of excitement to be in big boy's school. We were lucky to have met his teacher and teaching assistant a couple weeks before school at kindergarten camp. I really think the camp was a great benefit to help break him into being in school. He goes to bed without argument and wakes up on his own. It's nice to have a 5 year old boy wake up each morning fully rested and excited to start his day. We have a very simple routine in the morning and he has already gotten into the groove of things. We walk him into school each morning and let him lead us to his classroom. He knows how to get there but being a curious little boy, he gets a little sidetracked sometimes. Daddy insists that he needs to prove he can get to his class on his own before he is allowed to go into the school by himself. I don't have a problem with that. It's nice walking into the school each morning and seeing all of the warm smiles and welcoming good morning greetings from the staff and other parents.

I have gotten positive feedback from his teacher and look forward to keeping close communication throughout the school year. We are so lucky to have such wonderful educators. Of course I have signed up to volunteer to help out with pretty much everything! I did so much when the girls were in elementary school and got to see what an asset parental participation is to not only the student, but also to the teacher and other students. My first volunteer job will be picture day next week and I am really looking forward to it! It's a good way for me to get to know some of William's classmates.

When I pick William up each afternoon, I ask him what the best part of his day was. He always starts off with, "We went to the playground two times!". He hasn't learned all of his classmates' names quite yet, but knows his main teachers and some of the related arts teacher's names. He just loves P.E.. His coach is the same one that his sisters had throughout the elementary years. It has been wonderful seeing a lot of familiar faces at the same school I spent countless hours in. We feel like William is going to thrive in kindergarten and the rest of his elementary school career. Oh, by the way, I did NOT cry on the first day of school! I didn't even have any anxiety or fear. I guess I feel like he is right where he belongs. I look forward to sharing more about his kindergarten adventures. Thanks for reading!

Four year old boys and shopping

Today I took all 3 kids out to do some back-to-school shopping. We had the stores all mapped out and set time goals. One thing I always do before we leave the house is make sure William is well fed and goes to the bathroom. Everything was set. We headed out. The first few stops were simple because we were literally in and out within minutes. The last stop required us to be in the store for over an hour. Belk had a HUGE clearance sale with tons of merchandise to browse through, so naturally it would take some time. Along the way, the girls would try on a few items and add them to the growing stack. William behaved pretty well and kept picking up random strands of thread from the floor. I usually don't encourage picking things up from the floor but made an exception this time. It was just thread after all.

You can tell that he was getting tired of being in the store so I took him to the boy's department. He then tells me how the store was starting to make him sad. He said he wanted to feel happy again, very dramatically at that. So after the long time spent in the store and the even longer time at the check-out, we finally headed for the exit. Of course all you heard was the loud BEEP BEEP BEEP. We went back to the check-out counter to find out why we were beeping. It turned out from the piles of clothes we bought, there was one ink tag that was not removed. We headed  back to the exit and were successful. We made it out of there! William begged to go home and I gave him his wish. After we were home for about 30 minutes I looked down on the couch and saw this. It was a collection of all the thread my boy picked up throughout the store.

All I could do was laugh. Of course, once he falls asleep tonight, I will turn into the mean mom and throw it away. He might have dislike being in a boring old department store but surely found a way to keep himself occupied!

The last two photos are from a recent visit we had at Monkey Joe's. It is hard to get decent photos when your kid is running wild! It is our new once-a-week spot to go to, especially with how hot it has been. You can't beat all the bouncing, jumping, climbing, sliding and screaming fun! I look forward to when school starts back so we can go on 'Half-price Tuesdays'.

I'm a mom and I lie

Today I was on the phone chatting with my buddy and of course that gives William the idea that he doesn't need to listen to me. I told him he needed to complete his map puzzle so that we could put it back where it belonged. He decided to stack the pieces and ignore me. I told him I was on the phone with his dad and said that daddy needs him to pack his puzzle away right now. Do you know the boy sprung into action immediately?! I asked him to pack the puzzle up several times with no luck. Here I go and say his dad says to do it and the job was done in a matter of minutes. Hmmph! Oh well, I guess it is good that he fears his dad and knows he better do what is expected of him or else he will have to suffer the consequences. Although I don't make it a habit to lie to my children, I do what I have to when the need comes about. It is so important for dads to discipline their sons. Like I always say, only a man can teach a boy how to be a man. I'm lucky to have such a fantastic husband to do just that with our son.

Do you lie to your kids when you need to?

What comfort knowing what I know

This morning Chardie, William and I went for a walk around our local shopping area before it got too hot. It was nice and quiet since most of the stores had not yet opened. Since Brie has been gone all week on her Washington trip this has given Chardie and I more one on one time. We were walking by Bath and Bodyworks and Chardie comes out of nowhere and tells me that if anything ever happened to me and her dad that William would have to go with her. He would not have any choice. That melted my heart in a way that unless you were in my shoes you would understand it fully. To know that big sister would willingly step up in that way is priceless and brings me so much comfort. I love my sweet children. ♥

This really makes me mad

Why in the world does William not listen to me? If Dwayne is around William dares not to try any stupid stuff. The boy will look around the corner to be sure Papo is not around if he is about to do something. When I am reprimanding his butt he looks at his dad the whole time. It really makes me mad because I spend all my time and energy on him. I can tell him "NO" fifty thousand times and it is irrelevant. Papo tells him once and that is all it takes. It really makes me feel so powerless and weak on days that I feel like I am screaming and yelling to make him listen. Ugh, it's been one of those mornings already :(