This was a big, big year this year in school-land. Though our girls have been attending preschool and pre-Kindergarten the last couple of years, I think they knew this was an extra special year. Kindergarten. A coming of age, of sorts. They now believe they’re BIG girls.
Their excitement was contagious and I couldn’t help but feel excited for them. For me, the transition was not a major one…emotionally, at least. I didn’t feel that tugging of the heart, that twinge of sadness that our girls were growing up. And I know it’s because they’d been in a full-time structured pre-school the last couple of years. The material they’ll cover is not much different from what they’ve already been learning, which is a good thing. Repeating such lessons at an early age can only help, in my opinion. No, my major worry was the schedule. They just went from a 6 ½ hour preschool day (plus a couple of hours of extended care) to a 3 ½ hour Kindergarten one. And so, like any family where both parents work, coverage was our main concern.
Another worry? The early start time for the morning Kindergarten session. 8:05 am. We’ve gotten quite used to the 9:00am start-time the last couple of years. Another hour earlier? Ugh. It would mean that *I* would have to do morning drop off. Every. Single. Day. My husband and mornings don’t mix well. So, I went for the afternoon Kindergarten session. It would mean that we’d have to pay a little more for extended care both before and after the Kindergarten session but I knew it would be worth it. Besides, this would be the only year we could put off that 8am start time. From first grade and on, we would have to join the rest of the early morning elementary school crowd.
I knew this was the right decision for us but I still wondered whether I wasn’t being as cost-conscious as I should have been in putting our new schedule together (paying for both morning and afternoon extended care). And then I had coffee with my fellow twins mommies as they lamented the early morning start-times for their own Kindergarteners. I realized then that it was the best decision I could have made. Why deal with the aggravation now when I had the power to put it off…for one more year?
Original Mad About Multiples blog post.
When MommyTwinGirls isn't dropping her twins off at Kindergarten, you may also find her at Silicon Valley Moms Blog recounting the ups and downs of mommyhood, It's Never Easy But It's Always Fun splitting her time between her twin girls and at Solheim Photography posting favorites from her latest photo shoots.
