After William lost his first tooth this past spring, the subject of losing teeth and the tooth fairy has been a constant in this house. Will wonders when they next tooth will come out, and Nora keeps telling me that SHE is ready for the Tooth Fairy to leave her some money. I keep telling her that shes got a ways away before that happens. Anyway, they found this book called Arthur Tricks the Tooth Fairy. Its where Arthur's little sister decides to trick the Tooth Fairy by putting a shark's tooth under her pillow and Arthur plays the part of the tooth fairy and leaves her some money. Will decided that he wanted to do the same thing as Arthur, and left Nora a dollar out of his own savings, under her pillow. It was very sweet. Sometimes he really is a good big brother. Sometimes.
William started Kindergarten about two weeks ago. We of course had been talking about it all summer and right up until it was time to start, he seemed super excited. Then the day before he started, he started telling me how nervous he was, and that he had a tummy ache, and then he cried on and off all day. They had a somewhat slow start. The kindergartners start a week after everyone else does. The Friday before he started they had an open house and he got to meet his teacher for the first time. They also had a drop off play date where they got to meet some other kids, learn where to line up and see a little of the school. I think he mostly felt better after meeting his teacher and seeing his classroom, but it wasn't until after his first real day that I could see the relief and excitement in his face. He was SO excited too! He couldn't WAIT to tell me all about it. Luckily for him he had one of his friends from down the street in his class, as well as a couple of kids that he had gone to preschool with. So they weren't all strangers.
His teacher seems pretty nice and I've heard that she is known as the strict kinder teacher (which I am all for!). She certainly has the most experience. During the open house, she told us that they will only have 20 kids in the class this year, and that its her smallest class yet, so that is nice. So far things have been going very well. Will seems happy and is making some new friends and I am actually really enjoying the excuse to get some exercise at drop off and pick up. We live about a half mile from the school, so I figure I am walking about 2 miles a day (while pushing a 75lb double stroller containing Daniel and Nora). Hopefully I will lose a little more weight over the next few months! In the meantime, Will is learning to walk while wearing his backpack, and to walk a little faster than hes used to, so that we can get to school on time. Hes also learning to unpack it at the end of the day (take his homework folder and lunch box out and hang up coats, etc. So its been a learning process adjusting to the new routine. We'll get the hang of it eventually! I've been every bit as exhausted as Will, and I am not even the one going to school!
This month we also got William tested for the gifted/advanced learner program at his school. Apparently they don't really start that program until first grade, because it takes them a year to process all of the test results. So if I had waited to test him until next year, he wouldn't be accepted until 2nd grade. So we tested him with an optional test now and he will take a mandatory test in late winter, and the two combined scores will inform his placement into the advanced learner program. So we show up to this school about 15 minutes away from us (apparently this school ONLY caters to very advanced learners) to take the test. As Will is playing on the playground, waiting for his session to start I start talking to some of the other parents. One parent told me that she had gotten all of these practice tests on amazon so that her kid could adequately prepare in advance. I privately scoffed and wondered how much she was skewing the results by doing that, but then I very quickly found out that perhaps I should have done the same thing (if I had even thought of it). It turns out that these tests are the fill in the bubble type of test, and Will has never done one of those before. He apparently didn't quite know how they worked. He ran out of the testing room and proclaimed proudly about how he had filled in ALL the bubbles on a particular question. Cue palm to forehead. I won't get the results back for a few weeks but lets just say that Will might have a better shot at advanced placement next year. And yes, I will likely get him a few bubble tests to practice with beforehand. I have become that parent!
One funny thing about William, is that he loves when women wear buns. Hes mentioned it to me several times now, how beautiful he finds women wearing buns. He even pointed out a woman driving past in a car, "she was so beautiful and had a bun in her hair mom!" I forgot all about it the other morning and when he came into my room and I was wearing a bun, he proclaimed, "oh you look beautiful today mom! I love your bun!" It was a very sweet compliment but I had to laugh as he just has this thing for buns!
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