Open house

Last night was the school open house. Devlin's been talking about it for days because in addition to the open house and an opportunity to speak with the teachers, the book fair was also on. This would mean, of course, new books! On Monday, he came home and said, "Mom, Mom! Four more sleeps and it's the book fair! Can I get a new book?" And this repeated every day until, finally, the day of the open house arrived.
If there's one item I will not deny my children, ever, it's books. We have books of all shapes, sizes, subjects in every room of our home. Fostering the love of reading, and opening up the world of imagination through words is very important to us. Bed time involves at least two stories, if not more.
So, off we went to the book fair with money in hand. Both Ceilidh and Devlin were told they could buy two books each and Aisling was also granted a new book. A treat for her to have something that wasn't already tattered and dog-eared.
We also toured Devlin's classroom and viewed his artwork. He proudly showed us a painting. Based on the black head, red torso and splashes of blue paint, Wayne and I both declared it be a great painting of Optimus Prime. That's when the teacher informed us it was a self-portrait!
It was also uplifting to hear that Devlin has been adjusting to senior kindergarten with more ease than he did with junior kindergarten. His teacher noted that there's been no tears and fewer behavioural problems.
Believe me, it was nice to hear that because last year was rough. While he was excited about starting school, he didn't go gracefully. Every morning, there were tears. There was screaming for Mommy not to leave him alone, and there was clinging to Mommy's legs. For two and half months, I had to walk him into the building, pry his fingers from mine and place him on the "crying" chair and then try to leave the building. All the while dodging little bodies rushing off to class and Devlin who was running after me. It brought back memories of dropping him off at daycare. Then in November, I decided to bribe him. If he could walk into the building without tears, there would be a special toy that he got to pick out. The next week, there was a toy if he walked into the building himself. I still accompanied him to the doors. The following week, there was a treat if he lined up with the rest of his classmates. And so on, until we finally got him to enter the kindergarten gated area and hang with his friends instead of holding onto me.
So to hear that Devlin was making a smooth transition into senior kindergarten was a great relief! I wasn't too stressed about the little bumps in the behaviour department. If I had received reports that he was a complete angel, I would have been worried the teacher was talking about someone else's child. (After all, I know my kid!)