The Kindergarten Parent

My oldest son started Kindergarten this fall and he loves it.  I am really glad we moved in time for him to go to school in the new neighborhood.  The school is great!  They have so many interactive things for the kids and I love that the Kindergarten teachers do things that include the parents.  Which is very different from the preschool we went to, because they had a strict policy on only certified people can interact with the kids.  School has only been going for a couple of months and we’ve already had 2 activity nights, several fundraisers, 2 walk-to-school days escorted by fire and police authorities, 2 field trips, an open house, Halloween party/parade and just last week, an Indian Pow Wow.  And with the holidays coming, I’m expecting my schedule to get booked real fast.

With that being said, I feel like with all of the work involved getting my son ready for all of these events, encouraging him to do the fundraising and working with him daily on his homework, I’ve taken on another part time job.  I finally missed my first event with the school this past Friday and that was a movie night that included the entire family.  I already had a lot to get done and to be honest, I just needed a break. It’s not easy loading up 4 kids for all of these things.

I believe I’ve put in more home effort for his school that I did when I was in school and I haven’t even volunteered to help with anything yet.  Don’t get me wrong, I want my son to succeed and I want him to participate to the fullest at school so, I do all of this with a smile.  But, at what point is it ok to say “Ok, Conner, it’s your Pow Wow, you collect the things you need.”?  He was so good in the beginning of the year to make sure he had his lunch made the night before and we set everything out so we were ready the next morning. But, he’s been slacking lately.  If I put the responsibility on him, I know things will be forgotten and lost.  Is 5 too young to make him responsible for keeping his work together and getting it turned in?  All logic screams at me, “Uh, yeah, duh”.  But, I can’t help but to feel I’m the one being graded (or judged) if my kid isn’t turning in his homework, showing up with a healthful snack and a full lunch, etc.

In two years, I will have the twins in Kindergarten and Conner in 2nd grade….I’m a little worried about how I’m going to keep up! LOL