As any parent knows, the first day of Kindergarten can be a hard one. As a former teacher I can tell you it usually goes one of two ways:
1. The child screams and cries and won't let go of the parent.
2. The child runs off into the room without even saying goodbye to mom. Sometimes dad - but mostly mom - is left standing there all alone, not sure of what to do with herself. The little one has been her world for the last 5 years and now she's not needed anymore. She will be worried all day long, wondering if kiddo is doing okay on the first day of Kindergarten, hoping friends are being made and kiddo is happy. (It's not much different from the feeling you get when you drop the same kid off at college many years later.)
2. The child runs off into the room without even saying goodbye to mom. Sometimes dad - but mostly mom - is left standing there all alone, not sure of what to do with herself. The little one has been her world for the last 5 years and now she's not needed anymore. She will be worried all day long, wondering if kiddo is doing okay on the first day of Kindergarten, hoping friends are being made and kiddo is happy. (It's not much different from the feeling you get when you drop the same kid off at college many years later.)
If you're a parent you may know those feelings. As it has been a long while since I've experienced the drop-kiddo-at-Kindergarten I-hope-she's-doing-ok feeling, I was quite surprised when the feelings arose again this week.
All because of Mr. Hans Solo.
Having just one foster kitten in the house this time around made for a different experience. And when he headed to the adoption floor this week I wondered - and worried - if he would make other kitty cat friends. I may not have been ready for him to leave me, but he was quite ready for the first-day-of-Kindergarten adventure.
*He wanted to be confident climbing the jungle gym at school Simply Cats so he practiced by climbing between the chair and end table again and again.
*He said goodbye to his security blanket.
*He double checked to make sure he had all his supplies in his Simply Cats bag.
*He promised he would make sure he wouldn't be a messy eater at snack time. Shh..don't tell him he left food on his face.
*His teacher made a home visit to meet him. (Not really. I caught a black cat on our security camera and couldn't think of any other way to work it into the story!)
*And bless little Hans Solo's heart, he climbed up and onto the school bus all by himself.
He had a great first day at Kindergarten. He made a new kitty cat friend and smiled big for his school picture.
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| Photo courtesy of Simply Cats |
And exciting news - he's already been adopted and he and his new kitty cat friend are going home together!
After looking at where he started:
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| November 16 Photo courtesy of Simply Cats |
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| January 12 Photo courtesy of Simply Cats |
I say forget Kindergarten - bring on first grade!