day two of the kinder journey

this morning we were up and ready and to school precisely on time. everything went smoothly, we walked to z's class and waited in the hallway as the kids filed into the classroom.

zach was feeling a little clingy this morning, and wanted to give me several hugs. i willingly obliged. as his turn to enter the room approached, i told him to get his lunch box out of his backpack and get it ready to put on the shelf when he enters the room.

"i want a hot lunch, mom"

"i know you do zach, but we'll have to start that next week. okay?"

"fine."

"good morning zachary!" his teacher called out. he gave her a big smile. good sign. "take your red folder out of your bag and place it in this box. that's our first step every morning."

he took off his backpack and dumped it on the floor.

"pick up your bag and take out the folder and place it in this box." there were people behind us in line, so i picked up his bag and opened it. "take out your folder and put it in the box zach"

as he pulled the folder from the bag, the corner of it nicked his eye. he looked up at me wide eyed and then crocodile tears came pouring down his cheeks.

i kneeled down beside him, and we moved out of the way for the other kids to enter the room. the tears continued to pour as he wiped them away and tried to put on a brave face. "i'm so sorry that happened baby" i kept saying as i helped wipe away his tears. no words, just tears. "are you gonna be alright?" i asked. he nodded in assurance and his teacher gently held him by the arm, urging him into the room.

he turned to face her, but pulled away. she reached for his hand and tugged a little again. he planted his feet, firmly stiffened up and pulled back. it was clear he had no intention of entering the room. neither of them relented. she pulled and he pulled harder. i watched this tug-of-war for a few seconds trying to figure out what i was going to do. i'm lucky in a sense, that it's not often that zach throws such a tantrum. but when he does, he is relentlessly stubborn about it.

so i resorted to bribery.

"do you want to go to the pool tonight?" i whispered in his ear.

he looked at me, reading my face. i could tell the thought appealed to him. his teacher walked away, giving us time to sort this out.

"if you will go into the classroom right now and get a smiley face for the day we will go to the pool tonight."

"okay" he said. he slowly walked in and placed his lunchbox on the shelf. his teacher smiled at him, and he returned it with a sheepish smile also. i could tell he was a little embarrassed.

the principal was making announcements as i walked out of the building. "welcome students to your second day of school! don't worry kinders, you'll get the hang of it soon."

that made me feel better. so now, as i promised, we're off to the pool. round three tomorrow.