As TKP is my venting place I didn't know a better place to put this. Today was the first day of kindergarten for our oldest daughter. First it doesn't feel like I'm old enough to have a kid in school. I didn't think this day would really effect me but then when I watched her walk down the hall in the line of other tiny little humans it hit me how emotionally that event actually is. Ninjas cutting onions. For you older people does it get easier, I've got to go through this three more times. Now to keep carefully pushing them to Tech, Class of 2033 for this one.
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Congrats Fireman!
As someone who doesn't have kids, I can't speak to whether or not it gets easier. But as the youngest of 5, I'm pretty sure by the time I was going to kindergarten my parents were mostly numb to the separation anxiety and whatever emotions go with that. I'm sure it's different for everyone though. I guess you'll find out eventually.
It's weird it's not the separation, she has gone to preschool and daycare since she was 8 weeks old. Plus when I was working regular fire shifts I was gone every third day for 24 hours anyway. It's this sense that she isn't just this little kid anymore.
Can she do derivatives yet? If not, she's behind. I recall sometime in the past you made a comment about how you felt the schools in your area were lagging what you saw in Ohio. Do you still feel that way? Doesn't the Myrtle Beach area have some (not all of them) of South Carolina's best schools? I've read that children who are exposed to learning and knowledge and encouraged basically seek and arrive at their own level by the time they are in the third grade, exposure being the operative word here. I, like you, am going through the process too so don't really know. Good luck and hopefully in 2029 tuition will be affordable again.
SC schools are crap all around. Horry County, where Myrtle Beach is within, has some ok ones but overcrowded and underfunded as all things in SC are. So we went the Catholic School route, my wife and I did that and she turned out great, me not so much.
I'll be in MB next week!
Where?
Sea Watch. My mom owns a condo. We'll be there from the 22ish-28th.
The north end. I live all the way on the south end, Murrells Inlet, less people, less tourists and tourist traps.
I love Garden City and Surfside. We should hang out/meet up (if I can steal a moment from the Mrs).
Can try, but crazy busy.
I agree the south end is way, way better as far as being touristy, but in the summer that whole stretch of 17 from Pawley's to North Myrtle is pretty crowded. I've always imagined it would be frustrating to actually live there during the summer.
Gotta know the secret back ways, and times to travel and not travel. I know people who live in Pawleys who don't go north of Murrells Inlet during the summer.
Currently in labor and delivery while mama gjpvt09 is working out baby #3. The now middle one starts kindergarten in two weeks. Eldest starts 3rd grade. Nope, the emotion never slows down.
Wait did you say currently in L&D? You are TKPing hard. Our fourth is due in about 5/6 weeks.
Yeah man, our oldest started last Tuesday. My wife is definitely going through some tough anxiety. Our youngest is just past 8 weeks and just started daycare. The wife started back to work on Monday. That's messing her up worse than anything.
As far as Kindergarten goes, the bus is a bigger issue than class. She got scared the first couple of days getting on. We live near the school and the bus is pretty full by the time it gets to our house. The second day she walked up the steps, turned around and tried to walk right back off. It's improved already though. One of her little friends from class is on the same bus and they sit together.
It's natural for parents to feel anxiety when they start school and those of us who work to feel guilty about putting the little ones in daycare. Its all part of their development though. It's how they learn to act around people, to deal with people they don't get along with.
I'm sure you're a great dad Fireman. They'll be just fine.
Move in starts today for Tech. Driving to work this morning I got to see all the new freshman moving on to campus, they were so adorable and innocent looking.....when I wasn't frustrated by their parents not knowing how to get around campus
Awww, look at them, still looking both ways before crossing the street
I lived in Pheasant Run my last two years and I loved watching the hordes of freshman descend on the complex in search of parties. The groups of 15+ hoping to get into a party together were hysterical. Of course it also brought me back to when I did the exact same thing as a freshman.
My oldest ,daughter, graduated from Tech in May and moved to Richmond to live with the boyfriend and go to work and grad school. You learn to deal with it over time. My second child, a boy, gets all the wife's anxiety.
Three boys - Oldest is now in BigBoy World having graduated in May, middle one is a sophomore at App State, and my youngest is starting his senior year.
The milestones will always be emotional. You also have the added anxiety of how in the hell you're going to pay for all this stuff they want/need as they get older.
Reflecting back on when I was fretting over how much diapers and baby formula cost makes me laugh hysterically.
HF, you and me both. Sent my son off to public school Monday for the first time. Tons of memories about all the bad stuff that happened growing up and all sorts of anxiety worrying that will happen to him or worse. But all I can do is re-double my efforts to train him up to be the man he should be despite anything he experiences in school (from teachers or students or whatever).
I suspect it will be worse in two years when our middle child (daughter) goes to school. Then there's middle and high school and sending them off to college and...I need a drink
Is the football team doing the annual "help out the students on move-in day" thing this year?
I am on the other side of it, being a teacher and all. Every, caring and nurturing, parent I see goes through this from the moment they walk through the doors in Pre-K through 5th grade at my school. There are too many kids that I see that don't get those experiences with their parents and it can be eye openning.
Be glad for these moments because you are doing something right as a parent. Thank you for giving your kids these moments that build understanding of what matters most in life.
Cheers to us both. My oldest started Kindergarten today, too. He looked great and went in just fine. I haven't been doing well all day, and my wife, I'm sure, is doing much worse.
My youngest two (twins) start kindergarten in two weeks. It was hard enough when big sis started, but I think this one will be tougher, since it's the last time we do this.
My oldest boy started 1st grade and my daughter started pre-k this week. My youngest son just turned one. I look at them every morning and I can't believe how fast the time has gone by. There's so many things I want to teach them and do with them and I thought I would have all the time in the world. As much as I hated getting up and feeding a baby or arguing over who's going to change a diaper, it depresses the hell of me that I'll probably never have to worry about that again. I keep thinking the answer is to have 100 kids and never worry about them all growing up, but the truth is they all will and do. I listen to my oldest son talk and watch him play with his friends and his video games and I wonder what happened to the little boy that used to love to play peek-a-boo or draw with crayons.
I think it gets harder every year to watch them grow up, but it also gets more rewarding as you see them grow and take on personalities of their own. There's plenty of tough times but it's intertwined with the day to day moments that build relationships and families. Every day I tell myself I need to do more or try harder, but the truth is we do what we can and hope we've done enough. It's amazing how much I have changed as an individual in the last 6+ years after having kids. Enjoy every moment and always try to instill confidence and love. I gotta go throw away these damn onions....
aaand now I'm crying in my cubicle, jerk.
I took our 10 month old to her first day of day care on Monday. Mrs. GoKart also started her new job on Monday. She was sad, but kept it together more than I thought she would. I thought I was gonna be Joe Cool and drop her off and go on my merry way to work. I did not see the ton of bricks and the pit in my stomach coming. Monday was the most emotionally taxing day I've experienced in a long time.
There are a lot of manful tears on this thread.
Kids....they'll get after ya.
Hey folks...this is not only off topic but not even on-topic for this conversation but hear me out right quick:
I was in a coworker's office and I saw a framed picture on her desk. I immediately recognized it as a picture that had been posted on this website at one point but despite my searching, I could not find it.
The image in question looks like a port city in the Mediterranean from a distance with a table that had many colorful umbrellas over it. I remember someone commenting on it but I can't find it, nor can I remember the place or any of the conversation that went along with it, but I do recall that someone had said they were sitting 'right there next to the umbrellas' or something along those lines.
My coworker claimed that it had been taken on her iPhone so I'd like to see if I can find it and find the OP of the image. Can anyone help here?
EDIT: Sorry for adding noise to the board. I found the post but the image is gone:
http://www.thekeyplay.com/comment/425721#comment-425721
And now I know that Alum07 has been incognito, but also is a coworker of mine. I found you out, Gr
I KeyPlayed harder than all of you today.
So now we have 2 horses on here that can talk and type. Jesus we thought the monkeys were going to take over, nope the horses. Also thanks for high jacking my emotional man post about my kid. /s
Lives in Raleigh NC, works in State College, PA huh? Hell of a commute
I have mentioned previously that I'm a father of 7, grandfather to 4. Yes, it might be tough with your first kid or two on those first days of school, but after a while they're lucky if you slow down to 20 mph when you drop them off. /s Maybe.
Or, you could be like this Mom. (Sorry, hope this works, first time at this...).
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/mom-jumps-for-joy-in-most-relatable-...