first day of school

I know I am way behind on blogging (stupid job, taking all my time) but I had to write about Porter's first day of school. He has been so excited and nervous for school for weeks. Everyday, he would ask me how many days until he started school and we would have to count them out on the calendar. We went to get school supplies last week, including new backpacks for both boys (Dallin needed a backpack, folder and glue stick of his own). Little did I know that they aren't supposed to bring their own school supplies.
Even though Porter kept claiming that he wasn't nervous, he started getting really grumpy and difficult the night before (which is how he handles stress). I wanted Joe to give him a blessing and Porter cried and screamed that he didn't want one. We had to wait a while until he had calmed down and was a little more willing. Dallin was more than happy to get a blessing though.
The morning of school, Porter was almost unbearable. He wouldn't get up, he just laid in bed and whined. He wouldn't get dressed. He hated his clothes because "some boys don't like to wear button shirts that are for church," his shorts didn't fit right, and he couldn't get on his shoes (after school he immediately changed out of his school clothes). He wouldn't breakfast because he wasn't hungry and Dallin got the good flavor of yogart. He didn't want to get his picture taken. Even when we finally talked him into standing in front of the house, he just sort of scowled (he said he was smiling). We were almost late for school because of his grumping and delaying. We got there just as the bell rang. We didn't even get to see him in his class room because they were shooing parents away as we got there. I try to understand when he is like this that he just really worried, but it is hard to stay patient. Joe and I were alternating between coddling him and yelling at him to just hurry.

These are his before school pictures(Dallin wore his backpack to bring Porter to school too, in case they invited him to stay)

After school though, he came out sunny and happy. He had really liked school. They had snacks, played games, got new backpacks and school supplies (oh well), etc.

Dallin had a good morning without Porter. Joe and I both took the morning off so that we could be there when Porter was done with school. After we dropped Porter off, Dallin helped Joe with various errands and jobs. He also rode his bike, skateboard, and scooter around while Joe worked in the garage. I did work in the basement out of the way for awhile. (It is kind of nice with just Dallin around. He can play by himself pretty well. Today, he is wearing a batman costume, racing his cars while I write this)


By the second day, Porter was a veteran. He got up early on his own. When Joe got out of the shower, he found Porter fully dressed, sitting on the couch waiting for us. We got to school in plenty of time on Tuesday.

Wednesday was also a big day. It was the first day that Porter would be picked up by daycare and Dallin would go to daycare alone in the morning. I was really nervous about the pick up. Though there are kids at Porter's school that go to his daycare, he is the only one who gets picked up after morning kindergarten. I was afraid he wouldn't know where to look for the van or that they would be late or forget him. We discussed where he should look for the van and what he should do if it didn't see it several times. He is usually pretty good to remember what he is supposed to do, but I was still worried that if he didn't see the van, he would panic and wouldn't remember what to do. Luckily, everything went off without a hitch. Neither he or daycare reported any problems

Unfortunately, Dallin didn't do so well. Everytime we talked about Porter going to school, Dallin would remind us that he was going to go to daycare by himself like a big boy. However, he was all out of sorts without Porter. He didn't want to get out of the car and when he finally did, he bumped his head pretty hard. He cried and cried that he didn't want to go to daycare, he wanted me to stay with him, etc. I tried everything I could to get him to settle down but nothing worked (usually, I set him with paper and pencil in a corner by himself and he is okay. He likes to be alone for a few minutes in the morning when he first gets to daycare). I hope Friday goes better for him (and me or Joe).