So my oldest is starting kindergarten in August. My youngest is also starting a new school in August, too, but that does not freak me out. For some reason, I'm nervous about kindergarten. In fact, I kind of feel like I'm the one going to kindergarten. Actually, that's not true. If I were the one going to kindergarten, this would not be stressful at all. Kindergarten is stressful to me, because I feel like I need to know everything, have everything organized, and have my daughter 150% prepared so that she loves kindergarten.
And unfortunately, kindergarten has changed since I was a kindergartner. In fact, it's changed so much that it has a new name now - it's just "kinder" - they dropped the "garten" part. Apparently, it took too much time to say the whole word. Anyway, now you need a PhD to figure out the ins and outs of getting your kid ready. I know this because I have a Masters degree, and I'm not sure that's adequate. There is no primary checklist that says do steps 1-10 and you're ready...it's a lot of amateur PI work investigating websites, apps, attending orientations and interviewing other moms.
For starters, kindergarten registration. I carried a stack 1 inch high of paperwork to the school to register my daughter (at the required day and time of course). It included every piece of documentation imaginable to prove my daughter exists, is American, is healthy, that I exist, that we are actually her parents, and that we legally own a home in the school district. I'm sure there are people who lie about their address to get into our school district, so I get the stiff requirements, but holy cow - I felt like I was trying to get a bill passed through Congress!
Then there is how to get to and from school. When I was a kid, this was easy. My mom was a stay-at-home mom. One of her primary jobs was to take me to school and pick me up. Well, now that my husband and I both work, it's much more complicated. My daughter wants to ride the bus, but the bus picks up at the crack of dawn...which means we all get less sleep or go to bed at 7 PM...OR we take her to school. And if you drop your child off at school, it turns out there is a very specific way to do that. Again, when I was a kid, my mom walked me to my class. Not now. Parents are not allowed in the school in the morning. You have to know exactly which lane to get into in the morning to drop off your kinder kid and hope a 5th grader finds your child and matches them to the right class. Actually, I'm sure this process runs fine but as a first timer, it freaks me out a bit.
Then, if you opt for your child riding the bus, you have to figure out that whole system. Again, people weren't worried about kidnapping or losing kids or bullying when I was young, so the bus system was simple. Now your child has to have an ID, be registered, know where to sit on the bus, etc. All good - but something new to master. And which bus stop do they get on and off of? If you go to the wrong bus stop, they return your kid to the school. Seriously. Of course, this is for safety reasons and I completely appreciate it...but it makes me paranoid, I'm going to lose my kid.
The lunch system also used to be easy. When I was in kindergarten, I went half day, so I ate lunch at home. But even if I had eaten at school, I would have taken a $1 bill and handed it to the lunch lady. My only choice was white or chocolate milk. Now kids have lunch accounts. And believe it or not, kindergartners are allowed to go through the lunch line and choose WHATEVER they want and it's just debited from their account. They have many, many choices, too - healthy and not healthy. So you have to make sure your 5 year old child clearly understands his/her lunch boundaries and doesn't spend $9/day on a lunch that consists of Doritos and ice cream. OR of course, you can send your child to school with lunch. That, too, requires more work, because (understandably so) there is a list of all of the items you cannot send to school in lunches. Although at my child's school, they can take PB&J, but they will have to sit at a particular table that's okay for nuts.
Next on the list - school supplies! Now I will admit, this has actually been simplified. You can now order your child's school supplies online, which is great as long as you know in advance you have to do that. Otherwise, if you miss the deadline, you are screwed. Although the cost of school supplies has increased significantly since I was in kindergarten. I'm pretty sure my mom sent me to school with some pencils, erasers, glue, and construction paper. My daughter's school supply package online (which I'm told is discounted) was $75.
Then, there's all of the ID's and apps I need to monitor my child, her lunches, her grades, her transportation, etc. My daughter has a student ID, a portal ID, a login ID. And I need three different apps on my phone to keep up with all of the information that will be available next year. Oh and I should send my kindergartner to school with a phone, too. What? My daughter is 5. She doesn't have a phone, but apparently, she will need one (even if it's non-functioning) if she rides the bus because they highly recommend that to keep the kids occupied on the bus.
And finally, there's orientation and meet the teacher night and curriculum night and how to be a better parent night (okay, I'm kidding about that one). And I'm also stressed about what backpack does she need, what lunch box does she need, what do kinder kids wear to school. I know I will look back on this next year and laugh at myself. But my child freaks if she is under-prepared (you should have seen her the day she forgot her show and tell at Pre-K), so the last thing I want her to think is mom doesn't know what's going on in kindergarten. We will never make it to first grade!
For those of you who are sending your oldest to kindergarten this fall, I wish you luck! For those who have already been there, do you have words of wisdom...or a bottle of wine?
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