The first day of school.  Last year it was recess duty every day and this year is lunchroom duty.  A part of me is sad to lose that outdoor time in the middle of the day, but the other part of me is celebrating that I won’t have to freeze my tooshy off in January any more.  So, lunch time it is.  As I was walking around talking to various kids, asking how their day had gone, commenting on their lunches, one 1st grade boy in front of me said loudly, “Look!  My fork has wings!”.  And sure enough, he had skewered two of his chicken fingers (think Burger King chicken fries – long and skinny and ever so slightly rubbery) on the two outside tongs of his fork.  As he moved his fork up and down it looked like the chicken fingers were flapping like wings.  If this is any indication, this is going to be a fun year.  Ya gotta love creativity!

Kindergarten is always fun.  Two little girls with teary eyes told me they were missing their moms, so in my mom kinda way, I told them the day would be over soon and I promised they would get to see mom.  Then I offered to hold their hands, which they did not let go of until it was time to leave.  I walked by another child who was telling a new friend that he was exhausted, and when one of them asked if they got a nap today, I told them they were big kids now, so no, and he looked at me in disbelief and stated, “but I’m only five!”.  On the other hand, when another little boy asked how much time was left in the day and I told him, he said “but we just got started!  I love school!”  Then he started jumping up and down when his brand new teacher came to pick them up, waving a shouting, “hi Ms. Walling!!”  I think I’m going to like this boy : )

You could tell some of the older kids had stayed up too late last night as they struggled to stay alert at the beginning of the day.  And along with all of our brand new Kindergartners, we had a bunch of kids move in, new to the school.  The quiet shy ones, checking things out carefully, the kids who don’t know a stranger and want to tell you EVERYTHING the first time they meet you, and the angry ones who are not happy to be starting somewhere new and are already pushing buttons to see how far we’ll let them go.

Several of my 2nd graders said they didn’t FEEL like 2nd graders yet.  They knew they were in 2nd grade with a new room and teacher and all, but decided that right now they still felt like 1st graders.

I received my guaranteed hugs from those I refer to as my “naughty” kids.  You know, the ones who are always doing things to get some attention (usually the wrong kind of things), but they really are just looking for ANY kind of attention.  Hugs just seem to be a great way to get positive attention for sure, and just for the record, I LOVE these kids, even when they’re naughty.

And it’s fun to be back this year because we’ve got a little history now as we begin our second year as a community.  Kids are asking about joining choir, band and strings.  I love having them involved in more music!  The “dead guy” poster on the wall has been getting some attention and I’m excited to surprise them with “dead girls” this year for those girls who have been asking.  Still looking for someone who actually makes posters of female composers.  No luck so far.  What does that tell you? Probably a topic for another blog.

So, that just covers a little over five hours today (the first two days are early release days), and like that kindergartner, I’m exhausted.  Probably won’t tell him I took a nap after school today.  And it’s only Monday!  Looking forward to more interesting conversations with my kids tomorrow!