Ah Fall… my favorite time of the year.  Crunchy leaves, hurricanes, pumpkin flavored everything!  It rocks.  But this fall is a little different from those in years past, because our baby started Kindergarten this week.

Yes the day finally came when our big boy jumped into the elementary school pool.  Shiny and I knew two definite things about our child before we even got married.  The first was that if we had a boy we would name him “Avi.” The second was that we would do our best to send him to a Jewish day school.  Part of this came from our education background – both of us were day school kids.  The other part came from wanting our child to have a strong Judaic foundation.

Lots of preparation went into the days leading up to Tuesday.  Aside from the usual forms, shots, etc., we had to get him mentally ready for this big change: new school, new classmates, new teachers, new daily routine, new commute.  For me one of the hardest things was saying goodbye to his daycare/pre-school.  After all, he’d been going there since he was 3 months old.  Watching him grow up there – from being the tiniest baby in the infant room to one of the big upstairs kids.  (“Upstairs” was a magical and mysterious place for parents in the infant – 1 classes).  They had been with us through a lot, and really took great care of him.  There were quite a few weepy parents on that last Friday – hard for us to say goodbye, but not really, since playdates with preschool friends have been scheduled already.

Off we went to the mall to buy back to school clothes, a new back pack, and lunch box.  Kippot had to be found since he has to wear one to school every day, and his name had to be written on everything. 

Finally Tuesday morning arrived – and as soon as I woke Av up at 6:15 he jumped right out of bed.  “I am so excited for Kindergarten today!  I can’t wait to show everyone how clever I am!”  Mornings have now become a contest for him to see if he can get fully dressed and ready for school before Shiny gets out of the shower.  He was already and roaring to go, and off he went in the Shiny-mobile to go to his new school.

I met my boys at the new school and they had a special ceremony for the Kindergarten class and their parents.  The Headmaster spoke to the kids about what they can expect, and then the parents all stood up and each of us spread our Tallit (prayer shawl) over the children and we said a special blessing of thanksgiving for reaching this special day.  No tears were shed by me (surprisingly).  When I spoke with Av about what they would be doing for Mommies and Daddies and the kids, I told him that I’ll bring my camera and my tissues.  His response was: “Mommy…you’re not going to cry…you have to go to work afterwards.”  That’s my boy – always practical.

There was one girl who cried as they were led out and off to their classroom.  As one of the parents sitting near me said “Oh good…that’s not my kid!”  The rest of the day was spent anxious at work – IMing with Shiny – both of us wondering what he was doing, since we didn’t know the new schedule.

That evening when they got home, we completely grilled the kid about his day.  He told us all about the set up in the lunch room, his teachers, the school, the Hebrew language immersion part of class (“I’m going to learn more Hebrew than Abba!”), the new blessings they learned.  He summed his first day at Jewish day school right up when he said “We sure thanked God for a lot of stuff!” 

Day three today, and he still enjoys school.   One of his teachers informed Shiny that Av was the only kid in the class who didn’t ask “When is playtime?” during the first day, and that he was really interested in learning.  What I think is most wonderful is that I know this is really the only time in his life when he will be this excited about going to school.  I hope that excitement about learning lasts him a lifetime.