To scwibble or not to scwibble?

This morning I had to take X to school. As soon as we get out the door, he says, “WOW! What a beautiful day. The sky is bwue, the clouds are white. And dey wook wike cotton candy. It’s gonna be a great day!”

---

So, I walk into the cafeteria, Gidzilla in hand, and as usual, they run toward each other and hug. Gideon looks up at me and asks “Can I go see his fends?” I said yeah, as this will give me a moment to talk to his teacher. When I get next to her she says “We’re having a bit of trouble with him getting his work done in time. He’s trying to get it perfect, which is good, but he needs to speed up a bit.” Really,” I ask. She says” yes, he worked through reading group and recess today.” I said ok and that I’ll talk to him.

When I get to the car, I have a little talk with him about getting his work done in time and his reply is “She told us not to scwibble and if I can’t scwibble, I can’t get it done.”

---

After that conversation, He told me about their fire drill. He said, “Today, after recess while we were getting a drink, even though I didn’t get a drink, we had a fire drill.” Really?
Yes, they told us some stuff too, Code Brown is for earthquake, which we probably never have. Code Yellow is for a Tornado, and Code Red is for Fire. Did you get all them daddy, tell me what they are.”
So I repeat them back and he then repeats them back to me finishing with “There, that way you know what they are.”

---

On way home, I hear from the back seat, Gideon asking, “ What center you do today?”
X reply, “Guess.”
Gideon, “ummmmm. wet me fink… pewtures?”
X, “Wow Giddy, you’re psychic. I did do computers today. Awesome!”

---

When we got home he got really excited and said, “GUESS WHAT I GOT TO DO TODAY?!? PICK FROM THE TREASURE BOOOOOXXXXX!” His voice went up three octaves as the word box becomes the final note in a song.

He got to pick a silly straw from the treasure box. and was just too excited to live.

Flailing Chains

Today is the "firtieff" (30th) and I had to guess how many sunny days they have had in the week. I said 3, and could have been wrong  because he said, "I fink 2 or three I'm not sure."

---

As to how the first part of his day went : "After dat, I don't know but then I remember. We were gonna do centers but we did this first. the triangles had to be circled then we looked inside the little thing. and then we and at the first page. It had a ball, a ball, and a square. We had to circle all of the balls. The second page had a square, a square, a rectangle, and a square. We had to the mark the ones that were the same. Page three had these hat fingies. There were these colored hats things. We had to circle the hat that was the same..." Then he just started rambling a bunch of other stuff that really didn't make much sense.

---

So, he had me guess what center he went to today? I guessed computers and he said "Nooooo, bwocks... and we made trains.  Then _________ comes over. He's a mean wittle kid that pushes us around. I asked, "When you get pushed around what do you do?" He says, "Tell the teacher. Wait daddy you're not supposed to be writing this yet. HA! I forgot I forgot.. after centers is lunch break time. so you can go ahead and write that.

"I was eating my nennynems (M&M's), which you packed (and he wryly looked at mommy) that I didn't know that you even had. Thanks, Mommy. He (the mean wittle kid) tried to eat one."  

Me: "What did you do.?"

Xavier: "I tell him, No you can't have them!" But then he (the mean wittle kid) just said, 'heh heh heh, No, I will eat them. You won't tell me what to do. Cuz I'm the boss of everybody.'"

At this point Mommy is starting to giggle. Xavier looks at her and says "I'm not making this up"

---

At some point today, I'm not sure when, they were making a family tree in class. The stem part (truck and branches) were done by Miss Holt. Yesterday they painted the leaves and today they added apples to the tree. Each apple represents someone in his immediate family. Xavier explains, " We had to tell her how many people were in our house and she put that many on there... I got my mom, dad, and me and my brother. I could only put four people and could not put any animal.

---

I also learned, later in the evening, that he started crying at recess today. When asked why he answered, because there were kids swinging and the chains are gonna break and they'll fly through the air, with the chains fwapping in the air (And his arms are flailing about representing the fwapping chains) and they'll land way over there (he points) to where mommy drops me off.

---

Mommy also thinks that Gideon is being left out, so on the days he goes to Mothers Day Out I need to include his story as well. I will say that the first part of the day is not so good because the boy throws a fit not wanting me to leave him there. Of course, this pulls on my heart strings (which my wife says I don't have anyway). They all reassure me that he stops crying after about 2 minutes. But what kind of emotional scars is he going to have from his daddy abandoning him to the clutches of Miss Winda and Miss Kistee.

Anyway, when I ask him how his day went he doesn't really answer me. I ask if he learned a new song and he shyly begins singing something along the lines of

da roooles, da roooles

da roooles of da casswoom

keep you hands and feet, keep you hands and feet to youself

keep you hands and feet, keep you hands and feet to youself

and some other verse that I can't remember now. If I can't get him to sing it tomorrow I will post it.

Today he brings home a book that he, Miss Winda, and Miss Kistee made about him. Here it is:

 

Dat's Nice.

I was fussed at the other night because of my grammar and puncutation errors. So if anyone notices any errors, please let me know. Oh and don't forget to share (buttons at bottom) or like this post if you like it.

---

I was a few minutes late this afternoon. Me and Gideon were watching Blue's Clues and let the time slip away from us. It's amazing how captivating a little blue cartoon dog can be. I parked a block or so away, as I've been doing lately, and walked to pick Xavier up. Upon entering the cafeteria Xavier was up and ready for us. He bounds over, says "Hi daddy," gives me a pat on my back, hugs Gideon, and asks Gideon (while patting his back), "Did you miss me today?" Gideon said "yes." They then held hands and proceeded out the cafeteria doors.

When we get outside Gideon asks "What center did you do today, Yayo?"

"House Keeping," Xavier answers.

In this sweet, soft, unassuming voice Gideon replies, "Oh, dat's nice." I just smiled.

Xavier held his hand all the way to the car, being the best big brother by making sure his little brother stayed on the side walk.

---

Xavier told me that he had to miss recess today because had to draw to draw a shape man and Mr. T. Unfortunately, for me, it's not the same Mr. T that I remember and love from the The A-Team. This Mr. T is the same bear that was Mr. M and Mr. A but this time he sang a really sloooow song about teeth.

I'm Mr. TEEEE,  with my big Teeeeef. (yes, TeeF because Xavier is singing this to me after all!)

I need a big tooooof brush to brush my teeeeeef.

And that's all he remembers.

  

I asked about the shape man and he said "The shape man had a triangle, a square, a diamond, an oval, and every shape in the world! Except for a trapezoid and an octagon, I'm glad it didn't have those."

He wasn't in trouble, and thus had to miss recess, it's just that he was taking too long drawing those. Well, that's what I got from the story.

---

I've been squished a gazillion times today. You know, sitting in the breakfast, and sitting at lunch and sitting at pick up time. When people are sitting too close and it squishes me.

And finally,
On the way to the park today after school Xavier pipes up and says "Daddy, _________ (a boy in his class) was saying nasty stuff today."

Me: "Really, like what?"
X: "He was saying things about how his brover peed on the couch. And the brover peed in his eyeballs and peed in his mouf, and peed on his bed"
Me: "and how old is this brother"
X, wide eyed: "Oh he's just a baby! and that's why he pees on everything."

Socks.

While today was not a school day and this post doesn't pertain to school I still think it's funny.

Last year, Xavier said that he wanted to celebrate Chanukah instead of Christmas. Because you get to celebrate for 8 days instead of just one. So, tonight we were walking through the Hobby Lobby Christmas stuff and X says that he can't wait until Christmas. I remind him that he wanted to celebrate Chanukah he said "Nope, cuz all you get are socks. So, Christmas it is." Somewhere, he had heard that you only get socks on those eight days of Chanukah.

 

We walked into Old Navy and as soon as you walk in, all the Old Navy mannequins are right in front of you. Xavier says, "Gideon, I've found your long lost family. Even your long lost dog."

My Wucky Day

This morning Shannon walks Xavier to the cafeteria. When he gets to the bottom of the steps, a girl (I think it's his BFF from yesterday) comes running up to him and yells "XAVIER, I'M SO GLAD I FOUND YOU. NONE OF MY CLASS IS IN THERE, I NEED YOU TO HELP ME FIND MY CLASS." Xavier was ready to step up and be her knight in shining armor but didn't really know what to do. So he looked around confused.  But he wanted to help... that's the key.

It turns out when he got home it wasn't he BFF, but a different girl.

---

Today is the "twenty-sixf" and their calendar has "FIVE DAYS OF SUNNY! I fink that's all it's ever going to be."

Last Friday, Miss Holt sent home a small paper bag with directions for Xavier to put five small things in it that represents him and they will discuss the items this week. Well all week we have been asking him if Miss Holt chose his bag yet and he kept telling us no. Today his was finally chose and here's what he told the class about each item:

First was a small Trio building block, "I love to play blocks. I use dem to create animals, houses, and weapons.

Second was a small Batman figure: "Me and my bwover wove to pway Batman, My brover pways wiff me and we have the Batman Cave.

Third was a Galactic Heroes Han Solo: I like star wars, my whole family does, even my brother, me and my brother play star wars. Miss Holt told me that it was Han Solo, She said she knows Star Wars.

Fourth was, well let him explain: One day we were hiking at Angel Falls Overlook and found this, I don't know what it is. Another little boy said, "I know what it is." and Miss Holt said "what?" And the boy said "A wucky buckeye." So it's a Lucky Buckeye, go figure.

Last a rock: On weekends when I'm off school me and my family go play in water and I found this rock and it's a zebra kind of wooking rock."

Miss Holt said that today it was going to be between 90 and 100 degrees so they had to go to recess early in the morning.

---

"OH OH OH! and we read a tumble book." So, here is a transcript from the novella "I HAVE TO GO! as narrated by Xavier Follett:

It was sooo funny because it said the mom and dad  (in a high pitched Xavier voice) "ANDREW DO YOU HAVE TO GO PEE!" He said "No no no. And the dad said ( in the high pitched Xavier voice) "ANDREW DO YOU HAVE TO GO PEE?" He said, "No no no. When they got in the car Andrew said 'Mom, Dad, I have to go pee?"

When they got to grandma's house the mom, the dad, the grandma, and the grandpa asked "ANDREW, DO YOU HAVE TO GO PEE?" and he said, "No no no." They got outside and he threw one snowball and Andrew said "I have to go pee".

When they got back home they put Andrew to bed and mom, dad, grandma, and grandpa kissed Andrew good night and asked him, "ANDREW, DO YOU HAVE TO GO PEE?" He said "No no no." They all waited outside his door whispering "Any minute he's going to say I gotta go pee!"

Instead Andrew says " I wet the bed".

Xavier laughed so hard!

---

Today in Gym class he had to do some sort of step, hop, jump, twist game where they had to put their feet on these blue and grey footprints on the floor. "The bwue footprints faced this (and he pointed toward his right) side of the gym and the gray footprints faced this (pointing to his left) side of the gym. We had to bounce bounce bounce (and he's moving his index finger, mimicking his legs up and down)  Then there were footprints facing this way and that way we had to twist to get to them it was a lot of fun. AND for doing a good job I got to get something out of the Gym Treasure Box. It was a shiny, green, lucky coin.

"With my wucky Buckeye and my wucky coin, it's my wucky day, huh?"

No Jellyfish!

In today's Weather Calendar. They picked Sunny then he looks at me and excitedly says "Guess how many days are sunny  this week? We have 4 days of sunny and zero days of other days. We just have sunny days." I then ask the date and he says, "The twenty-fiff."

I was in music class and the music teach told us a story. "I was walking in the forest and then I heard footprints (they tapped 2 sticks together to mimic the sounds of slow footsteps) and a few minutes later the footprints were faster (same sound as above but a little faster). And then a few minutes later the footprints got faster and faster. I looked behind me and I saw a bear!" Then it was time to leave music class.

Excitedly Xavier jumps up and runs over to me:

X: "GUESS WHAT CENTER I DID TODAY?!?

Me: "What center?"

X: "COMPUTER!!! and guess what I played?"

Me: "Oregon Trail?"

X: "It's on PBS."

Me: "Wild Krats?"

X: "YUP! WOOHHOOO!!" and he gave me a high five.

X: I played Cheetah racer, ride on ramora, and a fish called remora that attaches to sharks and these... what are these fings that are black eyes and black fins, like birds that fwap up and down, and a sharp tail.

Me: "Manta rays?"

X: "Yeah mata rays, they attach on to manta rays but they don't attach to jelly fish cuz they sting."

I ask about Mr. M, and he turns and says, "How about you txt Miss Holt tonight and find out what letter is next week. Mommy said that Miss Holt is not going to give away the secret. Xavier says it's not a secret. Shannon replies with Why don't you ask Miss Holt? X says, I did and she said she didn't know.

Miss Holt read the Little School Bus book again. and according to X "She ONLY reads the Wittle School Bus book."

And finally, he was trying to describe what they do before they leave school, "The second fing we do before we leave is play recess. The first fing we do is shapes and the next fing we do before we leave is recess." - Meaning that they do recess and then they do shapes and then they leave for home.

Because some were having problems sharing this. I've included buttons at the bottom of every post to for sharing and spreading Xavier's adventure. At the bottom of this post click on the button of your preferred social networking site and viola the adventure becomes worldwide!

"Start Me Up"

Today, Gideon and I parked a few blocks away and walked to pick Xavier up. I'll probably start picking him up this way, so that we don't have to wait in that car line and it gives us a bit more exercise.

When Gideon and I got to the cafeteria, Miss. Keiser (sorry, if I spelled your name wrong) called out Xavier's name and he came running to us. Gideon ripped from my hand, they met in the middle, and gave each other a big hug. Then I walked over and asked Miss Keiser question about picking X up by walking. Xavier then asked if he could take Gideon and show all his friends. I said sure. So X grabbed G by the hand and led him to a few different kids stating that "This is my wittle brover".

While he was introducing G, Miss Holt said that Xavier is so cute when she is trying to explain things to him. His inquisitive facial expressions are great (maybe not her exact words but close enough). I asked if he was doing ok, and she said he was doing wonderful. I looked over and I saw a little blonde girl that Xavier was introducing Gideon to, who said, "OOOOH He is sooooo cute."

Our conversation on the way to the car.

 X: "Daddy, did you see that girl in the flowered backpack?"

Me: "Yes"

X: "That's ________. She's my best friend."
Me: "Best friend, huh?"

X: "Yup"

Me: "OK"

X: "She's cute, huh?

Then later:

"There is this person who is not in my class. A little girl, asked me how old I was. I said, but first, How old are you? She said she was 5." Xavier put his hand on his hips, got this smug look and said "I said that I was 6 and she went...." He dropped his jaw in this puzzling surprised look, mimicking the girls reaction. " and then there was this other little boy who said he was 6 too!"

While I type this up, Xavier is over there playing with Gideon. He jumps up ecstatically and yells, "Usually when we are singing Mr. M. I am doing drums or guitar!" and he does his strange Mick Jagger-esque dance/air guitar impression.... HA!. There's an visual impression for ya!.

He didn't really want to share anything else today. So, I left it at that. But apparently the most important thing he did learn today was the "exploding fist bump". Which he, in turn, showed his brother.

The Munchy Mouf

Today, (Yesterday) when we get home,  I asked how his day went. and as usual he starts out babbling stuff, until some key thing pops into his head that he focus' on. Today, he started by telling me something about lollypop sticks, putting back packs away, sitting on the carpet, looking at the smart board. Then he gets into the thick of the day.

Today is "August twentyfird." They picked and agreed that it was going to be Sunny today. After a pause, he says, "They have two days of sunny this week. Wanna know why? Every week she makes our weather calendar blank, so we can start new every week. But one day, later on, she'll stop blank-ing it so they can make a whole calendar of it.. and then, I think, until it's full and then she'll blank-it again."

He continued "Miss Holt, read that story that she read westerday. It, was so funny... (He started slapping his knee). The wittle school bus about these people that got on the school bus."

"The first one on is a hairy goat in his new winter coat. It's a rhyming book, just so you know. The second one on is, a pink pig, and on the pink pigs hair she has a pink wig, or something like that, i don't know. A pig in wig, a goat in his coat, are riding a school bus to school to school. Rising a school bus to school to school. the third one on the bust A big ol' fox, he has no shoes but he has socks. a Fox in his sock, a pig in his wig, a goat in his coat riding a school bus to school to school. A quick quick chick, a fox in socks, a pig in a wig, a goat in a coat. The fifth one on is a hairy bear, and his hair gets all over the place..." I'm not sure that's all of the story but that's where he ended.

Today they were learning about people's names. As soon as they learned someone's name they would sing the Happy Birthday song. "And then Miss Holt said 'Lets sing the Birthday song for Xavier but this time it's for real because his birthday was August 2nd.' and then they all sang for me!" and he got the biggest grin. :)

Went to tables and drew a school bus. Miss Holt was calling us back to that table because she wanted us to fill out these pages. "Yesterday the page said, 'I am' and then a blank. We wrote a name in it then we drew a picture. Today it said 'I like' then a blank. My friend Emma drew an Ice cream and so I drew an ice cream too. Then... this is sooooo funny... she said that she is going to draw a birthday boy."  and he's grinning again.

Through email. Miss Holt wanted us to ask Xavier Who is Mr. M? His answer: " he is this puppet bear and he is sooooo funny. When we were singing the A song he was Mr. A and now he is Mr. M. His real name is Mr. Alphabet but we shorten it to whatever letter we are learning that week. Ya know last week he was Mr. A. and this week he is Mr. M, and next week he'll be Mr.... Umm daddy I wonder what it'll be next week... Can you text Miss Holt and ask her?"

X started singing a song.. in this Bob Dillon-esc voice..

I'm Mr. EMMMM. With a munchy mouf

I munch from morning to midnight

from midnight to morning.

I'm Mr. EMMMMM.

I go much munch munch (he puts the back of his hand to his mouth and starts opening it and closing it like it's a big mouth) Munch.

I go munch munch munch.

I like Kool-Aid and Marmalade

and marshmallows dipped in chocolate syrup.

oh yeah oh yeah oh yeah (Repeat 10 times)

I'm not sure the "oh yeah" is in the song, but he was going with it over and over again.

After recess they learned about shapes. Trapezoids Triangles, Squares, Circles, Hexagon, Octagon. they watched a movie about them and then had a Quiz. Miss Holt asked questions about the movie to see if they were paying attention. Xavier was asked two questions he says he got one right and one not right.

He also told me of their procedure for walking down the hallway. They get "bubbles in your mouth" and shhhhh. It basically means pooch out your cheeks so that they look like bubbles. This is to encourage them to be quiet while walking down the hall."

And so I had to ask, "Does this work? Are you quiet in the halls?" He said "No, I mean, I always am but some kids aren't. Sometimes kids talk in the hall." Then he blurts out, "Three people went down the mountain today. 1 was at level 3. and two went to level two. They got bad notes sent home, I didn't get a bad not sent home today." I replied with "AWESOME!" and gave him a high five.

Return

Not a very exciting post this time. Due to certain events, I was not in town on Monday and when I called on Monday evening to ask him about his day at school he said that he had an interesting day. I asked him how, and he said it was too long of a story for him to tell me at the moment. That he would tell me when I got home. But most likely he will have forgotten some of it or all of it.

It's Tuesday afternoon and I just got home. I am going to take a shower and then go get the boys from school. I'll post again once I see hear how his day has gone today!

Modern Prometheus

So, the teacher opens the car door and X yells out "HI GIDDY! HI DADDY!" He's so excited he can't even get in the car. But then the mood turns...

Before we are out of the school parking lot, I hear a soft, meek little voice coming from the back seat "Daddy, please don't' get mad at me."

I look back at Xavier and asked why.

The soft little voice says, "I had to sit out for 5 minutes."

"Why?"

On the verge of tears, he says, "Because I said the 'S' word." and here come the tears... and then on cue Gideon starts crying too.

  

I told him that me and mommy would talk about it this evening when she gets home. A few minutes pass and he's telling me about his day.

Today is the "nineteenf" and today they picked that it was sunny. I don't know if this is the case or not but he's telling me the story as if the kids in his classroom choose what the weather will be each day. It's funny.

He also made, according to him, a little human today. "Miss Holt gave me a paper person  and then she gave me shorts, buttons, a shirt, and some hair. and then I glued the shorts, shirt and buttons. Then, Miss Holt told me to put some glue on the man's head and then put his hair and the hair will kind of stick. Then she gave me some googly eyes, but first I had to draw a mouth and a nose, and then she gave me googly eyes I glued them in place. and then uh...let me think. I had to flip it over and write my name on the back. That's how I did my human!"

I think I'll have a new segment in my blog called -

TALES FROM THE LUNCHROOM ::insert cheesy 50's sci-fi theme:: Today, one of his friends had raisins for lunch. He told Xavier that his raisin's were dead fish and they tasted like blood. AWESOME!

And finally, relayed to me from Shannon: Every morning, there is a little girl that wants to hold Xavier's hand. One day she dragged him down the steps. Shannon, and I, have been trying to tell him that he didn't have to hold her hand if he didn't want to. He's been trying to tell her no, but she is an insistent little girl. Well, today, she was trying to hold his hand, he kept telling her no but she didn't listen. Then, an older boy had commented on Xavier's Star Wars shirt and then they began talking about Star Wars and how Anakin was Xavier's favorite. The little girl then went and hid behind her grandmother.

Relayable?!?

Todays day was no less interesting or no less amusing for mommy and me.

Today, "the eighteenf" according to X, someone had picked that it would be sunny for their weather calendar. Even though he, and some others, would have picked partly sunny.

Today he "got to paint with his hands." Miss Robin, Miss Holt's helper, painted their hands with a roller and then they got to paint turkeys and leprechauns. I said to him excitedly "YOU GOT TO PAINT TURKEYS?!?" He replied "YES, We got to paint Turkeys for Thanksgiving Season and leprechauns for Leprechaun Season." Me and Shannon lost it laughing hysterically. To think, there is a leprechaun season is too funny.

 

I asked if Miss Holt read a story today and he busted out laughing saying Yes that the story was a hilarious story about "a mouse should not go to school, or something like that." He said that at the end of the book "the mouse made a controcious mess." I don't' know about you, but I've never heard of a "controcious mess." Another reason why we love kids and kindergarteners!

He also said that Miss Holt asked if anyone knew, in his own words "Mawy had da widdle wam."  "A few kids have never heard of Mawy had da widdle wam. So Miss Holt teached us Mawy had a widdle wam."

Toward the end of the trip home I asked a few questions about Miss Holt.

Me: Do you like Miss Holt?

X: Yeah

Me: Is Miss Holt Funny?

X: No

Me: Is Miss Holt Fun?

X: Yeah

Me: Is Miss Holt Smart?

X: Yeah

Me: Is Miss Holt....  ....I can't think of any other words.

X: Relayable? Is Miss Holt Relayable?

::laughing:: Me: Do you mean Reliable?

X: Yeah, that's it...Reliable... I don't even know what that means."

Mind reading and.....

On way home X called Shannon to tell her about his day. I heard about them learning the letter A again. He once again (as in the same as last night) story of how every week they are going to learn a new letter. They apparently did not read a story today but they did do the weather calendar (that's what it's called! in yesterdays post I didn't know what he was talking about)...

This is another example of how Xavier cracks me up. He told Shannon that "For their weather calendar, a kid picked that it was Sunny outside. We all agreed with him. AND I must have read his mind or sumpin because I was thinking it was sunny too. OR he might have read my mind!" Heh! My kid, the mind reader!

He had told me on the way home that his teacher had put a card in his backpack to tell about how he behaved today. Checked his backpack and there was no card!

Today, Miss Holt read some funny little book about a little kid named Andy. Andy got on the bus to go to school and he saw a monster that took all the room on the bus. Andy couldn't sit down. And later when kids went to learn, the monster threw toys and was a monster.

While I'm making Gideon's lunch,

Xavier tells me, "You know the girl that walks with me into school every morning. The one Mommy tells you about?"

Me, "Yes"

X, "Well, today in the hall, on the way to the lunch room, she asked me to hold her hand in the hallway."

Me, "Really?"

X, "Wes, and I wetted her hold my hand" (he can't say his L's and Y's so they sound like W's)

I am sort of shocked and don't really know what to say so I look away, and continue making Gideon's lunch.

A few minutes pass and he comes back to me and says

" She asked if I would hold her hand tomorrow too. I think I'll wet her"

Another funny quip and then I'm done writing for the day!

I'm sitting here writing this and he runs up to me and tells me that one kid had to move their bear moved today (see below) AND went to the principal's office! I asked what the boy did and in his words " One, he climbed up the rails. Two, he wouldn't listen to Miss Holt. and two wouldn't sit in his seat and two he climbed up the rails and three he went up the stairs."

*Their punishment system works like this, as far as my understanding goes; 1) a reminder. 2) a warning, 3) a bear move, 4) Principles office!

The Hacker!

Tonight after we all got home from where ever we were in the day. Me, Shannon and the boys laid on the be and asked them about their day. Xavier starts off saying that he'll try to remember what he did.

Today he realized that one of his new friends, "Riley" lives nearby. Coincidentally this was the same kids we had met a few days before on the basketball court. I won't go into the story of how we met him That's something for Shannon to talk about :). They played together at recess and I think that's where he found out.

A few highlights of his day were

 

Painting with his hands

An activity where they put together a calendar. If I understand it correctly, each day the teacher asks  one child to predict the weather or something like that. Xavier's words were" today a kids picked partly cloudy and "w"esterday someone picked sunny" So I don't really know, except that he's learning the date and maybe about weather

Miss Holt read The Little Engine that Could again today. He said that she plans on picking one book each week and reading it every day. When asked if they talk about the story afterwards he stated that "We talk about it while she's reading"
 

Here's a scary not really) part of his day. We asked him if he had to punch in his lunch code today at lunch. He told us no, the lunch lady had told him he didn't need to today. We thought it was because of a mix up from last week. Anyway, after that we asked him to recite his "lunch code" because we are supposed to practice it every day. Well after he recites his code with no problem he tells us that he knows another kids number too!!! Xavier then starts telling us that other kids number. Me and Shannon just look at each other in a scared shocked sort of way. When he finished Shannon looked at him and said "You're going to work in the government one day!" He asked why, and I told him because he was good with numbers and how he already knows beginning math.  Shannon then said, "If you are good with computers, one day you could rule the world." He replied with, "Good so one day I can be rich. Rich rich rich rich!!!!" LOL!

I had asked him what letter he learned today and he said that they just went over A again. He then, in his funny Xavier way, tried to explain that they are going to stay on the same letter all week. "and each week they will go over a different letter. Like this week was A. Next week will be B, and then C,D,E, and the rest of the letters." He reaffirms with, "Do you understand what I'm sayin?"

And that was today's adventure in a nutshell.. He's crazy!

AAAAAAAA Choooo!!!

Shannon sent me a txt after she dropped him off apparently he was having apprehensions about going to school today saying he would miss her.

According to Shannon, when they got there there was another little girl and her grandmother waiting to go in. It turns out that the little girl (I'll have to get the girls name from Shannon) was also in Miss Holt's class, well X said he was going to use his cheetah shoes (new Nike's) to run to the door. Well________ said that she was going to win and the race was on. After that X didn't really want much to do with mommy!

Today was only a half day, as is the rest of the week). So, the recap of his day was, he got their and ate breakfast. According to  him he ate Pop Tart's and Cocoa Rice Krispies and white milk and chocolate milk. Piglet!

He then went to class, Miss Holt directed him to his table. He says there are five kids at his table. Him, a girl that lives close by, 2 boys (that he met on the first day of class), and another boy that he met in Open House. I guess names will come later as he remembers them all.They had pop-sickle stick that they had to draw themselves on and the teacher did something with it.. (daddy - I don't know)

Things he did in his day;

• Sat on the carpet while Miss Holt read a  few stories: All About Me, The Little Engine that Could. He said that "All About Me was about a boy and all of his body and the whole class laughed when she read that he could pick up pens with his toes! Because it was funny!"
• Took a few trips to the bathroom.
• Computer time"with a friend of his". According, to him it was about the alphabet. "When you type on E a lower case and upper case e would show up then Elephants would run across the screen". It's rather funny listening to him tell me the story about his computer time and the different things that would happen with the different letters. He's wiggling and jiggling to mimic some of the characters on the screen!
• A song about the letter A, A hand puppet bear was singing a song that went "When I stay home I sneeze... AAAAAAAAAAAAAh chooo....AAAAAAAAAAA chooo....AAAAAAAAAA chooo"(He
• Went to lunch
• Played on the playground
• Got back pack and lunch box
• GOt in line to come home and played Criss Cross Applesause, Hands in the Pot. A game that they played where they sit with their legs crossed and hands on their lap.

At the end of the day he "told a few friends that I'll see you tomorrow. If you come." And they said that they will.

And I still don't know what his teacher does with those pop-sickle sticks!

First Day!

Xavier's first day of school went well.  

Some of the things he said about his day.

They did not feed him breakfast. According to our paperwork they were going to but didn't.

He had a nose bleed in class and told everyone that "It's because I pick my nose too much."

He told the music teacher that "All I have at home is a tiny keyboard. Mommy and Daddy won't let me have drums. They are not allowed where we live"

He told us that he was the only 6 year old in class and that it worried him.

For lunch Ravioli, Cheese Stick, Chocolate Milk, Peas, and little "bug cookies" He "says" he ate half of his peas but I'm not sure I believe him.. :)

Later that night, the school had an Open House where the parents could come and learn a bit more about the class and the school. Each teacher shared a speech about different aspects of the school and rules and guidelines (basically the same thing that was in the student packet X's teacher had given us already). After that we had a chance to go to his teachers (and music and art teachers) room and ask questions.

Miss Holt said that he was wonderful. That she could tell he is a rule follower and a leader. We expressed concerns about him being 6 and being the biggest kid in class.

On the way home Xavier said that never wanted to miss a day of school. I hope that carries through! I've heard from most parents that their excitement about school wanes in a few weeks.



He starts back on 8/15 for a week of 4 hours days and then starts his first full day week on 8/22

Drop off

Xavier was sooooo excited about going that he grabbed the car keys and headed out the door, 30 minutes before actual time to go. If he could, he would have driven himself. 

Dropping him off at school didn't go as bad as I thought.. Shannon waited until she got in the car to start sniffling. Gideon started crying the moment we told him it was time for us to leave. He's going to miss his big brother.

Xavier's teacher, Miss Holt, gave a little gift to each parent. It was a small cotton ball and tea bag wrapped in a pretty, clear and green, plastic wrapping paper. Attached to the package was a note. Shannon read the note and then threw it angrily into my lap;

Dear Parent,

Thank you entrusting your child to me. I promise to do my best every day to be your child's companion in learning and life. After you have wiped your tears, make yourself a warm cup of tea, put your feet up, and relax. Then, hold the cotton ball in your hand. The softness will help you remember the gentle spirit of your child. I will work alongside you this year to help your child grow.

Sincerely,

Miss Holt

Turns out she didn't throw it at my in anger. but in sadness. This note made her cry even more. I understand, it is her baby after all.

Miss Holt is new to teaching, apparently just out of college. She seems nice, friendly, and a bit nervous. Maybe not, I don't know. Before I left I told her good luck.

When we got home, Gideon goes to Shannon and says "Why you crying?" Shannon replies with, "Because the house is too quiet.. you need to make more noise, like your brother! Chitter chatter or something?" Then we all start laughing.

It's kind of sad, but I understand that it has to be done. This is a step he has to take just like everyone else. We'll be ok.