Ethan's First Day of Kindergarten--a father's perspective

From my husband's Facebok post today:

Excuse the reflective note…I just dropped Ethan off for his first day of Kindergarten…

I was born in 1961 and started school in the mid-sixtys so some of this may be unkown to you. Do you remember the old TV show “Father Knows Best”?  Well, I have inadvertently become Robert Young’s character all the way down to the names of our children…Let me explain…  I realized two days ago that I usually call Ethan by the name “Bud” and Kate by the name Kit Kat.  If you ever watched the show, you know that the boys name is Bud and the youngest girl is Kathy or Kit Kat.  Now, Robert Young also often referred to the oldest girl as “Princess” and I often call Kate that as well….so here I am in a sitcom re-run living the life.  So as a “super” father  to be, here are some things I learned as I watched Ethan stand in line with the other boys and girls today before they went into class …

1. Ethan is NOT the tallest child in his class( a little disappointed about this).  Though he is tall, there are some GIANT kindergartners out there!  Maybe they’re 6 and not 5?
2. You must have a back pack now and most of them are larger than the child who is wearing them.  When we were kids , there were no backpacks, right?  I don’t remember any.  In fact, I remember always having to carry my books wrapped in paper book covers and my lunch in a brown paper bag (you can’t do that anymore either, it has to be a Star Wars lunch box).
3. Kids don’t tie their shoes anymore (all Velcro) and their teachers don’t teach them to tie shoes anymore.
4. Parents are MUCH more involved in their kids day to day life than when we were kids…there were moms AND dads there to see off their kids off and parents are allowed to eat with their children at lunch every day (and do).

We must have done something right…Ethan has been excited about school for weeks.  He stood in line today happily and even knew several of the boys and girls from other activities in town.  I vividly remember my first day in Kindergarten in New Jersey (we had just moved there in the middle of the year).  I cried the entire time!  I don’t think I talked or interacted with another child until the end of the year (the beginning of my shy period).  Fortunately, I eventually got over it, but I’m so glad that Ethan wont have to deal with all of that…one small victory in parenthood…