The last couple of weeks have been a bit of an eye opener for me as the mom of two lils in kindergarten. For the majority of the school year, I thought that I was doing pretty well. The lils made it to school most days before the bell, they are often overly prepared for the weather, and I hadn’t yet forgotten to include their lunches OR water bottles. Sure, I likely drive them more often then I should, and I have forgotten to call the school once or twice when one of them is sick, but all in all it’s not been too bad.

There has been a subtle shift of late, and I think that things are starting to slide. It started when I forgot to buy splash pants for Goose, and then didn’t find any for weeks. It started getting warm, and overly prepared for the weather morphed into sending the poor girl in her snowsuit up until mid-April, when the temperature was well above freezing and she was over-heating. Then the lils started competing to see who could reach me for hugs at the end of the day. The “winner” got their hug first, and the loser, well, lost it. The tears, the yelling, the crying, have become a daily occurrence. Their teachers look at me, confused as I am as to what is happening. Then I sent Goose to school in a dress that clearly needed something worn underneath it. It was a knit dress, and their were holes in the pattern. I thought that she was fine with nothing underneath, but I was so wrong, and those holes looked so large as she ran around the playground at pick-up.

I have been able to volunteer a few days a month in the lils’ classroom. It is great to see the them interacting with their peers, to get to know their classmates, and to help the teachers out a little bit. I like it, I know that the teachers appreciate it, and all of the lils seem to have fun when a parent comes in. Sadly, the last few visits I have made have ended with one or both of my lils behaving really badly. They don’t listen, disrupt the lessons, and try to get their classmates to follow them in their mischievous ways. The teachers know it is for my benefit, the lils have been warned that they can’t keep it up or there will be consequences, yet it continues. When Willy picked the lils up from school one night recently, he was told that I should not come in the next day, as it becomes too disruptive for all. The consequences they were warned of.

I’ll be allowed to come back in next month, but until then, I’ve been suspended from kindergarten.