All About Clara

I wanted to make sure I documented how the first couple weeks of Kindergarten are going for Clara. She loves the bus. She loves her teacher. Overall it's been good but it's still a big transition. 

The second full week of school I woke Clara who immediately started to complain about not wanting to go to school. Surprised I asked why? She explained that at first she thought school was where she could "play and had happiness and joy. But now you do hard work and you don't get your life or the joy!" And to top it all off she explained that they only get ONE square! "My knees are touching theirs...they don't give me my SPACE!"  Yes, it's all true. 

On the way home from driving the middle schoolers to school one morning I was telling the girls what all they needed to do to be ready for the bus in 20 minutes. I had already packed their lunches so they just needed to get dressed and eat breakfast. Clara demanded to know what all I had put in her lunch. When I listed off her menu she sternly told me "But Mom, I have to be a star eater!" She then explained that if they eat all their food they get smelly stamps on their hand. A star was yesterdays stamp which she missed out on because she didn't eat everything. She wanted only one item! So as as soon as we got home we negotiated through her lunch box and taking out a few things so she could get her stamp. Sure enough, first thing off the bus she showed me the rainbow stamp on her hand. It's funny what seems to be so important to a kindergartener!

Really the only hard part of this whole school transition for Clara has been learning how to interact and socialize with new kids. It's just been the two of us with no preschool so this social setting has made her feel uncomfortable. One day she came off the bus looking so sad. She told me that she asked a new friend to play at recess but as they were playing another little girl came up and took that friend to go play something else leaving Clara all by herself. When she asked Kate, our neighbor, to play she was rejected as well. As we talked about how that made her feel she said "sad" tears started to run down her cute chubby cheeks.  It hurt my heart. I have encouraged her to play with a bunch of girls and boys in groups or one-on-one. We talked about how she could go about joining in a group playing. She said she would try but it makes her feel "uncomfortable". Yep, that's the way it goes!  I wish I could make it easier for all my kids to make wonderful friends. 

Recent Funny Moments with Clara: 

Dan: "I almost three up today on the way to work." 
Me: I wonder why?
Dan: I know why...
Clara interjected. "Because you missed me!"

Dan and I get a kick out of how her mind works!

I had a yellow stain on my shirt. Clara asked what that yellow was to which I told her I thought it was mustard. She quickly interjected, "Or it's a bite of a fish with yellow tooths!" And then asked if I'd gone fishing that day!