Musings of a Midlife Mama and Other Stories

Jack's kindergarten photo

For David.

It’s that time of year again.  School begins.  Jack starts second grade tomorrow.  I won’t say the obvious.  Okay, I can’t help it.  Where did the summer go?  Where does time go?  Second grade?  I remember dropping him off for kindergarten two years ago.  I didn’t want to let go of his hand.  I was scared to let go, but not in the way you might think after reading this blog.  Jack had trouble with impulse control.   For instance, when he was in preschool he threw wooden blocks at his preschool teachers and other kids.

So was I surprised when we got the call from the principal during the first week of kindergarten saying Jack was in her office for being one of some boys who flushed paper towels down the toilet?  Yes.  Yes, I was. And I was surprised the next week, too, when Jack found himself in the principal’s office again.

“Boys will be boys, Michelle,” the principal said.  “They’re learning to control themselves.”  Control?  I’d been dogged by the “c” word all my life and now Jack was learning how to negotiate this, too.

Kindergarten was a tough year for David, Jack and me.  On those days, I’d go to school to pick up Jack and pray all the way there he didn’t get a pink slip,  he had kept his hands to himself and he didn’t have to pick up trash during lunch rather than playing because he’d gotten in trouble. On those days when David picked him up, I prayed I’d get a call from David saying Jack had a great day.

I know now that getting in trouble wasn’t easy on Jack either. Bless his heart.  We were all trying to find a way to make it better.

The first three months of first grade didn’t go much better.  One day when Jack had gotten yet another note home, I cried right there in the middle of the hall.

“Mama, don’t cry,” Jack said.  “I’ll do better.  I promise.”  And he did.

To my friends, Kim and Kimberly, to the principal and all the other moms of sons who told me, “This too shall pass.”  To his first grade teachers who told Jack everyday he was destined for greatness, I say thank you.

Jack is the funniest boy I know.  He’s smart. He told his sisters today, “I have a thought every second into my conscious.”  This summer he got an award at camp for “demonstrating daily the lifelong values of caring, honesty, respect, and responsibility.”  When one of his sisters got a speeding ticket, he offered the money in his piggy bank to help pay for the ticket.  Jack teaches us every day about heart, spontaneity, and having fun. He is my mirror. I see how he struggles with anxiety, worrying and fitting in, all those things I struggle with, too.

On the last day of first grade Jack said, “That was the best nine months of my life.”

We smiled at each other.  “I’m glad to hear it.”

Then he got serious.  “But is okay if I get sent to the principal’s office in the first couple of days of second grade.  You know I’m going to have a whole summer to forget what they taught me during first grade, and I might slip.  I’m just saying…”

And I’m just saying let the fun begin!

Here is “To Sir With Love” because it reminds me of the first day of school.  What has your child or a teacher taught you?