KINDERGARTEN!!

Our little girl started KINDERGARTEN a few weeks ago.  How did this happen?!?  She was ready, we were ready but still it was a huge shift in how our days have been for the past nearly 6 years.


















On the morning of the first day of school Franziska surprised Josie and Benjamin with schultuete, meaning "school cones"  a German tradition for the first day school.  These were beautifully decorated cones with a bunch of gifts inside were.  Aside from Tinkerbell being on the outside, the Shrinky Dinks were the biggest hit.

 Benjamin got a little robot which he loves and carries everywhere.

The Riemer 4 all went to school together that day.  We walked her to her classroom, as did most kindergarten families.  I think the parents were more nervous than their children.   

After visiting her classroom we all headed to the front of the school for the flag ceremony.  500 students plus all their parents and their siblings makes for a very crowded and chaotic event but they pulled it off. 

My sister, Kim, told me that she always puts a small wrapped gift on her kids beds on the first day of school and they still look forward to it now at age 14 and 16.  I decided to start the tradition.  Needless to say, Josie was quite happy about the unexpected gift of glitter glue sticks and drawing paper.

 I love when I catch the open mouthed surprise AWWW when she opens and really likes a gift.  GLITTER is a sure fire thing these days.

Her special meal choice for her first day of school was Indian food.  I LOVE that both of my kids are adventurous eaters.  At first they only ate the naan and rice but now they dig right into our normal order of eggplant bharta and chicken makhani with vegetables.  After Indian food we headed over to Menchies frozen yogurt to really seal the deal on a successful first day of Kindergarten.

The second day of school we played a bit on the playground after pick up time.

 The third day of school she was ready to ride the school bus. I WASN'T but nobody asked my opinion!  It was so sad to watch her drive away on the BIG school bus!  She had one had clasping the seat in front of her and looked out the window at us with a big smile a big wave and a touch of anxiousness.  She didn't tell me until two days later that she in fact cried a little on the way to school.  She said she was fine on the way home but on the way there she was a little scared.  I told her that it was OK, I cried a little bit too!

But look at that smile and confidence on the fourth day of school.  That's my girl!! I'm so proud of how she has transitioned so easily and comfortably to all of this newness.  She loves kindergarten, has made a lot of new friends and really likes her teacher.  We couldn't ask for much more.