My First Day

I had my first day of Kindergarten yesterday. Mom bought me brand new clothes to wear so I couldn't wait to have all the other kids see my new outfit. My pants are a lot like what I already have (brown corduroy) but I got a brand new pair of Buster Brown shoes to go with them and a cool new shirt too. The shirt is what I like the best. It has a picture of all the characters from Sesame Street on the front - Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, Bert & Ernie - all of them! All the other kids couldn't stop looking at at.

Mom walked with me from our house to the corner. I walked the rest of the way (three whole blocks!) by myself. I had learned all the lessons on how not to talk to strangers and looking both ways at Safety Town earlier in the summer, so I was fine on my own. And we had walked the way together a couple of times so I knew exactly which door to go to and wait. My sister was walking ahead with her friend Cindy so it's not like I was really alone. (She is in Second Grade so she didn't want to walk right next to me anyway).

When I got there I remembered where I was supposed to stand in line and wait for the bell to ring. There were about twenty other kids in line (I think I was able to count that high) and everyone was very quiet. When the bell finally rang all the older kids went inside knowing exactly what to do. We stood there for a few seconds looking at each other for a possible answer and our teacher appeared to lead us to our classroom. Our teacher, Mrs. Wallo, lives across the street from me so I already know her. My sister had her for Kindergarten too so I wasn't nervous at all once I saw her face.

I had heard about the class from from sister but once I got in there it was beyond what I had imagined. It was very long with several different areas in it. On the end which we entered from there is a small closet area with hooks to hang our coats when the weather gets colder, on the other side of the closet is a piano, then a playhouse(!), and on the far side of the room is the blackboard and all the "learning" stuff.

Mrs. Wallo had us all sit down by the piano and the first thing we learned was our "Good Morning" song. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to remember it, but it is to the same music as "Happy Birthday" so it is pretty easy. She told us we will start each day with this song followed by our "weather report." For this, she will choose one of us to come up to the big paper calendar she has next to the piano. We are then to take the big crayons and draw in the space for the day what kind of weather we have. (I much prefer my Crayolas at home. They are much easier to hold and I have many more colors to use.) I don't yet know the boy's name who got picked but he drew a big yellow sun because it was very hot and bright outside.

So far it seemed like school was going to be great fun, but then she moved us over to the "learning" side of the room. Here she explained that we would soon begin to start doing all the things that the big kids do in their classes: read, write, do math. I don't know if upset some of the other kids or if it was because we had been sitting there for so long but a couple of them were suddenly sitting in puddles of their own pee! Luckily my mom had made me go before I left home. Mrs. Wallo thought this was a good time for a break so she took us all into the hall to show us where the bathrooms are. The girls went into their bathroom and we went into ours. The boys room is really neat because it has lockers for when the older kids play sports. Some of the other boys needed help going using the toilet but I didn't.

When we got back to the classroom we were told it was rest time for ten minutes and after that we would be able to have play time until it was time to go home. For play time she said she was going to divide us up into groups as to whether we would play with toys from the shelves or use the playhouse. (Of course everyone was hoping to play in the playhouse!) We spaced ourselves out on the floor to lie down for our rest. The kids who wet themselves had to lie on paper towels so nobody wanted to be near them.

The ten minutes lasted forever. When Mrs. Wallo turned the lights back up she called out our names and told us where we were to play. When she called my name she said I can go to the playhouse! It was so neat. It has a kitchen with an oven and a sink. There is a big trunk with clothes and hats and wigs. The doors and windows even open and close. Me and the other kids who got to play in it were very excited and you could see the others were jealous, but they will get their chance tomorrow or the next day. I think she chose me on the first day because she knows my mom and sister.

After a while Mrs. Wallo told us to put our things away because it was soon time to go home. All the big kids would be going to the lunch room across the hall but we are younger so we get to go home. Next year I can buy a lunch box and eat with all the other kids. We got into a line by the door once more and when the bell rang my mom was waiting outside with the rest of the kids' parents. Some of them ran to their moms and dads crying but I was fine. I had been to pre-school so I was used to being away from my parents for already.

I couldn't wait to tell mom all that we did today and that some of the kids had peed on the floor! I wonder if they did this in my sister's class too? This school thing is going to be interesting...