This will be a longish post. I have time. Deal with it.
Yesterday was Jack’s first day of school. All summer long he was sort of excited to go back to school and start 2nd grade. But, as the day grew closer, he started saying he hates school and he’s going to stay in bed all day, etc. I was worried about how the actual day would go. It was actually pretty okay.
The night before, Jack picked out his clothes (shorts and school tie-dyed t-shirt), and was excited to get out his new backpack (plain black one from IKEA), we decided on a snack to pack (organic Go-gurt, baggie of smart food, apple slices) and he got his new sneakers ready (bright blue Converse). He was stoked! Right before bed he talked about his usual worries.
Jack: Mom why does my brain make me tell you things???? Ohhhh!!!
me: You haven’t told me anything yet. What’s up?
Jack: I wonder if I’m gonna meet a girl I like in 2nd grade.
me: I don’t think you’ll have any trouble at all.
Jack: No?
me: Not with your track record.
Jack: Well, I won’t know anyone except a couple girls from 1st grade.
me: That means you’ll have to meet new girls. And boys.
Jack: Yeah yeah…(dismissive about the boys)
me: The way to get girls to like you is to be very nice to them and stick up for them if anyone is bullying them. Boys shouldn’t EVER pick on girls. They have to protect them.
Jack: I’ll totally knock someone into next week if they pick on a girl.
me: That’s the right idea, but with a little less force. Girls also like boys that behave in class. They don’t want to hang around with trouble makers. It’s too much stress. Even when you’re 6 or 7.
Jack: Really? How do you know?
me: Ta-daaaaa! I’m a girl.
Jack: Oh yeah, ha ha.
me: Trust me. Have a great day, be on your best behavior and be a good friend, and the rest will fall into place on it’s own.
Jack: Okay goodnight.
(some shots from the morning 7:50 a.m.)
Cold, cold day for September.Jack sees the bus coming.
(3:45 p.m.)
Jack: Mom!!!! (he does an amazing leap off the bus steps)
me: Sweetie!!! How was it??
Jack: I had the BEST day ever. The best. I got to move my clip up to “Great day” and that’s ABOVE “Ready to Learn”. I actually moved UP instead of DOWN this year. Ha ha!!!
me: That’s awesome!!!
Jack: (grabbing my shirt and dragging me down to his level) There’s a new girl on my list in 2nd grade. (he sighs…)
me: See? I told you. She must have loved how you behaved today. How was your new teacher?
Jack: She’s the best teacher and she told me I did a really good job today. I’m gonna try to do this every day!! (he starts hopping across the street)
me: I’m SO proud of you Jack.
Jack: How many more days til the end of school?
me: I don’t know, with the hurricane and all, maybe 179? Or so…
Jack: (sigh) Can I keep this up ALL year???
me: Day by day sweetie…
Jack: Can I run up the driveway?? (off he goes in the rain)
When we got inside, I opened Jack’s backpack and took out a drawing he did. They had to write a little caption underneath. Jack’s said “I got the jitters because I’m nervous if I am going to hate my friends and their (sic) going to hate me.” (awwww). His drawing showed a little boy (him) saying “hi” and another little boy saying “go away”. He was really worried about this, but luckily things went better than he expected.
It was a day of change for us all. It was Jack’s first day as a 2nd grader. My first day as a mom of a 2nd grader. He’s becoming such a big boy and really growing and maturing just like everyone predicted. After we had a snack, Jack had a mini meltdown because he forgot he had tae kwon do, and he didn’t want to go. It was rough for about 15 minutes, but we got through it and got to his class on time. Later, at dinner, and all on his own mind you, Jack came up to me and said “I’m sorry for what I did before tae kwon do. I really didn’t mean it. I love you.” You could have knocked me over with a feather…as they say…
Jack: Mom, do you like just walk up to somebody that you want to kiss, or do you ask?
me: Are you talking about you or are you talking about me?
Jack: (pauses) Me?
me: Uhhh, I guess when you’re OLDER you would ask a girl if you could kiss her.
Jack: My friend in school (not naming her here!) said that she already wanted to kiss a boy! And she’s only 6!
me: That happens.
Jack: (big sigh). Do you ever want to kiss people, like when they’re your girlfriend?
me: (he doesn’t mean ME, he means HIM!) Yeah, that’s what it’s all about. But you don’t really kiss girls until you’re older.
Jack: How old were you when you kissed?
me: (oh boy) I was like 13.
Jack: Who was it?
me: Just a boy in the neighborhood that I liked.
Jack: Did he ask you first?
me: I think so.
Jack: Then that’s what I’m gonna do when I have a girlfriend. She’d want me to ask first. But if you HAVE a girlfriend, then they already know what they’re in for.
me: Oh do they!??
Jack: Yeah. But when I’m older, I know I KNOW! (he tries to cover my eyes for some reason). And I have to tell you something but I just don’t know HOW!!! (he writhes around grimacing in pain)
me: For Pete’s sake, what? You can tell me anything.
Jack: There were 2 girls on the trip today that I want to marry! (he covers my eyes again…what’s that all about?)
me: Jack you’re hurting my face, stop grabbing my eyes. So how old were these girls?
Jack: Oh about 10. The perfect age.
me: What about my beautiful friend at Tae Kwon Do?
Jack: Mommm, she’s a grown up!
me: I’m glad you realized that. So you’re moving on from her?
Jack: Welllll… no… (keeping her just in case??)
me: I guess you liked these girls?
Jack: Yeah and I wanted to … (grabs my eyes again) Kiss them!!!
me: Sigh…
Now how am I supposed to handle this for … wait, how many more years now?? And how does a kid have raging hormones at age 6. I mean, really!
Sh*t My 6-Year-Old Says (but he's 18 now) 