"Ramona could not understand why grown-ups always talked about how quickly children grew up. Ramona thought growing up was the slowest thing there was, slower even than waiting for Christmas to come. She had been waiting years just to get to kindergarten, and the last half hour was the slowest part of all."-Ramona the PestI think this quote sums up the feelings of the kids and the parents on the first day of school. Gabe couldn't wait to go to school. He woke up extra early and immediately asked me if I thought he looked like a bigger boy now that he was going to kindergarten. Eric left a half hour before Gabe did and Gabe was very impatient. He was yelling "I can't wait to go to school!" at the the top of his lungs and I'm sure it was causing the teenagers next door to roll their eyes.
When we arrived at school there was a big crowd of parents sending off their children. For some, it was the first day of kindergarten. For others, it was the first day after a couple of years of homeschool in the village. Some were sending their children to their very first day of school living in a new country. You can see the crowd at the fence in the background of this picture. There were tears and some anxiety(mostly from the parents) and even after the children had lined up and the Thai national anthem had been sung and children were ready to go inside over a hundred parents lingered, clogging the walkway. Some stayed for a prayer walk around the school. The kindergarten moms went to one mom's house for brunch-a pre-arranged event designed to keep our minds off the fact that our babies are growing up.
Gabe thoroughly enjoyed his first day of class. Many of his classmates were in the co-op last year. His teacher is Mrs. Jarot, whom some of you may have met. She has been teaching for longer than I've been alive and has raised/is raising 6 children. We've known Mrs. Jarot for 7 years and although her style of raising and educating kids is very different from ours, we know she'll have a lot to offer Gabe. Gabe has a very diverse class. The classmates I have met are from America, the UK, Thailand, South Africa, Australia, Burma, Korea and the Netherlands. It should be a fun year.
3 comments:
It was so good to talk with Gabe and get his first-hand account of "the first day"--everything from the little drawer in his table filled with crayons, etc., to the snack to his new bookbag, "not backpack, Grandma." We're hoping that Gabe has a year full of growth and learning.
We just loved reading this post. The quote from Romona is so fitting! Gabe's expression in that first picture is just the biggest smile his face can make. Congrats to Gabe on starting kindergarted!!! We're so excited for him!
Wow, Gabe does look bigger than even when we saw him a few months ago.
Hard to believe school is starting up already...
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