Tuesday, August 11, 2009

First Day of Kindergarten 2009



My precious little man! He was more excited about his new tennis shoes than anything. He popped right out of bed this morning and got ready all by himself.
This is his second first day of Kindergarten, so this time is a little more real for me. Rodney and I chose to send him on last year with the intentions to send him twice. He has an August 20 birthday, so he turned 5 a few weeks after he started last year. He was definitely ready to go last year and we played it by ear. We knew it would be a hard decision in the end and let me just say, I feel like it has been one of the hardest decisions so far. With only harder ones to come in the future, making decisions that will affect your child's future can make you shed lots of tears and lose lots of sleep. We talked to so many people about what they did with their child and how they felt about it. Ultimately it came down to us and only us. After lots of prayer, our decision was based more on the distant future and not the near future. Rodney wishes he would have been held back when he was younger. Many people have said with boys, sometimes they need an extra year for maturity.

Joshua had a great year in Kindergarten last year. He had a super teacher and learned so much. His teacher thought we should send him on to First grade and some others as well. But we chose to let him go again. We weighed all the positives and negatives to both. Repeating Kindergarten would give him an advantage and more confidence. We talked to him many times about staying in Kindergarten again and he seemed to be okay with it. So here we are, the first day of school and I am so scared. Did we make the right decision? Are some of the kids in his class going to say ugly things? Well, all I can do is pray for him. He will be okay. He will make lots of new friends and he still has some really good friends from last year!
And on top of everything, I know he will have a wonderful school year because he has a wonderful teacher!



Mrs. Greenhaw was kind enough to send these next 3 pictures during his first day!



11 comments:

Hillary @ The Other Mama said...

Found your blog through Becky T's and we are in the same boat! I think we are going to hold our oldest, O, back after next year because his birthday is the 23rd of August. He's in Pre-K now (FIRST DAY!!) and this school has a half day kindergarten, so if all works well, we'll send him there and then change schools to do a full day kindergarten.
Your little man is SO cute!! I hope he's having a wonderful day!

Will and Melodie said...

What a cute picture! I'm sure that ya'll made the right decision and God will give you a peace about it. I think that is great that he is getting to go again and have the confidence like you said. We will probably have to make that decision with Lizzie one day too. I'm sure I'll be calling you for advice!

Julie Young said...

Yea Joshua! He sure is a cutie! He will LOVE Mrs. Greenhaw! :)

THE MORROW FAMILY said...

What a sweet picture! He looks so grown up! I'm praying that Joshua gets off to a good start and has a great year...and that you have peace in knowing that it's a good decision for him...whether now or in the years to come. Personally, I think the gift of time and an extra year is always good for young kids (especially boys). I went to Kindergarten twice...I don't have any long term scars. I always liked being the oldest. :) My kids will be held back, too. No doubt about it. :) Can't wait to see ya'll this weekend!

one BleSSed gal! said...

Unfortunately decisions get harder as our children get older =( I've never heard anyone say that they regret holding their child back, only people who regret that they did not. With Meg's August birthday, we'll be doing the same thing. I know that most (of the time) girl are ready to go ahead, but I don't care! I'm not about to send a 17 year old off to college! I'll be praying that he has a wonderful year & makes lots of new friends. And I pray that you have peace in knowing that you know him & you did what you know is the right thing to do for him.

Sunny said...

Joshua looks so big and so happy! He is adorable! Paige, we have spent the last couple of years coming to that same conclusion.

Anonymous said...

That is a sweet blog! I am thrilled beyond words to have Joshua in my class this year! Let the fun begin!

McKinney Madness said...

I'm glad that you were able to take in the advice of others but ultimately go listen to your heart and what you felt the Lord was leading you to do. I think you made a great decision and I'm sure Joshua will be super happy with Julie!

Bevin said...

He is adorable!! I went to kindergarten for 2 years and I was always glad that my parents did that. Plus, I got to drive before everyone else and things like that so that was extra fun. We are already thinking about the same thing for Cooper, his bday is Aug. 22nd. You will have to let me know how it goes with Joshua-although I am sure it will be great!! Beautiful family!!

The Penter Family said...

Hey Girl. I'm not doing any sewing the rest of this month because we just sold our house and we will be moving in two weeks... so all my spare time is spent packing! I'll be glad to make you an apron in September though. I'm not really sure on a price. People ask me about that ALL time time. I guess $30 for an apron monogrammed on one side and $37 for a monogramm on both sides. Does that sound okay?

Mary Virginia said...

I just got some awesome new tennis shoes too Joshua. Always good to have new shoes for school (and for starting a "biggest looser" diet after having your second child).
Mary V