This is the big one people! Kindergarten has begun! This is a summary of her first month as a five month old.
SLEEP
Sleep is great overall. One night, she had a nightmare. She woke up quite upset and my husband went to check on her. He got her settled down. She quickly fell back asleep, as did my husband (I did not, if I get woken in the night like that, I am awake for hours–which I am sure contributes to my dislike of the newborn months). She woke again with another nightmare. I was already awake so I zipped to her room. I brought some Serenity essential oil (great for sleep and for calming). I put it on her feet and had her smell it. I had her tell me about her bad dream. She asked for socks. We said a prayer and she went back to sleep.
When she woke up in the morning, she told me that she just needs to wear socks at night because having cold feet makes her have scary dreams. I loved this comment because it is 100% true. So we will be vigilant about socks. I don’t need to be up for hours at night…
EATING
Eating is great.
Confession, I love macaroni and cheese. The cheap kind from the box. So does Brinley! One of my favorite things about having kids eat lunch with me is when they love a kid food like that that I like. What am I going to do when it is just me home for lunch?
But she has become obsessive about it and wants it every.single.day. I finally put a ex to that idea. I need a break. She might cure me of my love.
NEW YORK
Brinley loved New York. She is an extrovert, so the crowds and people everywhere didn’t bother her at all. In fact, on the last day she told us she didn’t want to go home and she wanted to move there.
We went and saw Wicked one day. During the show, she turned to me and said, “I wish that was me on stage up there.”
So, she likes New York :).
KINDERGARTEN
She is loving Kindergarten! A lot! She is doing great. I like to walk to pick her up so we can have a nice long walk home where she tells me every detail of her day. She has loved it all but one day. She was very hungry that day and informed me that if I drove, it would be faster and her tummy would eat sooner.
I love these walks. She is a chatty girl. She tells me lots of details of her day. And she is great at explaining and expressing. At her assessment, her teacher told me that she can tell when she talks to Brinley that I talk with her often and that I talk with her, not at her. She is able to hold conversations with adults with ease.
There have been some early signs of Kindertude. It hasn’t hit hard yet, but I am sure it will come.
Kindergarten starts later than the other grades here. This always torture. I planned ahead and saved all of her school shopping for during this week. She played with a friend one day. She had her Kindergarten assessment another day. It worked out very well!
EXTRA CURRICULARS
Brinley has either started or will soon start the following activities:
- Swimming lessons: She really clicked this last month with swimming lessons. It is funny because the week before, I was thinking how she was not progressing and wondering if she ever would (she still acted so scared), then the next week, she was great! With the progress that she is making, I didn’t want to pause. So she will continue her lessons once a week this school year.
- Gymnastics: I don’t see gymnastics being something Brinley will do long-term. but I find some time with gymnastics valuable in life. She really wanted to try it out. She is super afraid of heights, though. She loved her first time, but was afraid of the bar. Like, legitimate phobia afraid. So if she can’t work through that, I will look into tumbling.
- Dance: Brinley will be doing rec dance again this year.
- Piano: Brinley has started her piano training. She is thrilled! She has been waiting and waiting for her turn to take piano lessons. It is finally here. So far, she has been very responsible and independent about practicing her piano.
SCHEDULE
Since most of this was during summer, I will do her summer schedule. This is her summer schedule.
8:30: Wake up. Eat breakfast. Get ready.
9:00: Chore time
9:30: Outside time
10:00: This time chunk is often spent with siblings and independent playtime
12:00: Lunch
1:00: SSR
1:30: Free time.
5:00: Dinner. Then free time
6:30: Outside time
8:30: In bed
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I have been reading your blog for almost 5 years now since my son will also be turning 5 in November. I know it might sound silly but I feel a special connection to Brinley because she and my son are so close in age. Congrats on her starting kindergarten! By the way, funny comment about the socks and the bad dreams. I too have to agree! 🙂