Do you know what time I got out of bed this morning? Of course you don't...unless you're somehow stalking me and have some form of hidden camera set up in my house. Which I know you don't. That's just weird.
Well, I got up at 10:00!! Yes. 10AM. And that's after going to bed at 9:30 last night. Or should I say, I crawled in to bed...collapsed in to bed..had barely enough energy to put my head down on my pillow. And I was OUT.
I slept for 12 glorious hours. Well, almost. I had a harsh wake-up around midnight, when Jelly woke up crying from having a bad dream. But I'll get to that in a second.
I needed that sleep. I woke up this morning, my hair frazzled, lines imprinted on my face from the sheets and my pillow. I slept HARD. Which is something I haven't done in a long time. I always sleep pretty well, but after about 7-8 hours, I'm good. To wake up at 10 totally dazed and confused...told me that my body was exhausted from this past week. And I got a good start on making up some of the stress I've been putting on myself.
Back to bad dream. Like I told you all yesterday, Jelly has been having a hard week with school. Her first week, she was a rockstar. No tears. Pure excitement. A bundle of crazy after school each day as she recollected every minuscule detail about her day for me. But, this week has been very different. She's been cranky. Moody. And she has cried before getting on to the bus that takes her from my school to her school.
I chalked the first couple days up to exhaustion, it's been a tough transition. Then, a good friend (and an expert in this stuff) reminded me yesterday that Jelly could be suffering from stress. The demands that Kindergarten has on 5 year olds in this day and age is so much different than when we went to school. The first week was full of drawing and coloring and play-doh and games. But, now that first introduction week is over, and the real demands of kindergarten are starting to come to light.
Jelly isn't prepared for those demands.
She attended daycare from 3-4 years old that was an educational day care, but the majority of the education came from fun learning experiences. Hands on experiences. A lot of cutting and pasting and coloring and making stuff. Then, she attended a pre-k program that used creative learning centers where she learned through play and discovery. Dressing up, more cutting and pasting, fun songs and dances, building blocks, play-doh, and paints.
But now, she's gone from all of that in to a classroom. A real classroom. Where she sits at a desk or on a carpet. She listens to directions from her teacher. She has to follow those directions. She's asked to do stuff she's not really sure how to do... write, spell, read.
No wonder the girl is stressed out.
Last night, she woke up at midnight crying. That hasn't happened in YEARS. She told me she'd had a bad dream..couldn't remember the dream, but was still pretty shaken about it. I held her, calming her down. It took everything I had not to cry with her. My baby is really feeling the heat from her new situations...and there's not much I can do for her except hope that over time, she will start to acclimate to what's going on. She's super smart, and I know that she won't have any problem with the stuff she's required to learn... but I can't explain that to her. She doesn't get it. She just knows that her new school is a daunting place, right now. It's just going to take some time getting used to. In the interim, I just have to help her as much as I can with the demands and reinforce that she will be OK and that it will get easier to except the stuff she'll be learning.
So much has changed even since Peanut and Butter went to kindergarten. I've been in the know all this time, and now I'm finally starting to see how these demands of starting the learning process much earlier affect 5 year olds. Pretty scary stuff!
Thankfully, Jelly will be able to forget all about that stuff today. She got her first invitation to a birthday party from a girl in her class. She's super excited about it..and that makes me happy. Even though the birthday party is at a park, when it's 100 degrees outside. Oh well, getting all hot and sweaty and possibly a little sunburnt is nothing for my baby's happiness. She needs a day off to have some fun, play with her friends away from a school playground or classroom. I think it will be great for her. Plus, it gives me a chance to get to know some of the parents.
And, not only do Jelly and the rest of us get today and tomorrow off to recover and recuperate...we get an extra day on Monday.
THANK GOODNESS FOR LABOR DAY!!
Yeppers, this weekend is a long weekend. Three glorious days off instead of the usual two.
Besides the birthday party, I have absolutely nothing planned for this weekend. Tomorrow, we'll probably do our usual grocery shopping and cleaning. Monday, we'll hopefully spend the afternoon in the pool.
I have some work that I had to bring home with me.. but that won't take much time away from my relaxing weekend.
All in all, it will be good family time. Jelly needs it. I need it. And so do the other kids. They've been busting their behinds each night at sport practices, and they're both exhausted too.
Which I think it's about time for me to go jump in the shower to start preparing for my afternoon in the sun.
Happy Saturday!!
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