Junior Kindergarten, Here We Come Lately
It's understandable why the morning kindergarten positions are more in demand. I can see the advantages of wanting to send a kindergarten child to school in the AM especially if there are other siblings that go to school full days and getting all the kids out the door and off to class en masse is easier.
Also it's never too early to prepare a child for what the next dozen or so years of life are going to be like, five days a week, nine months a year. Discipline is good and since that includes waking up, getting ready, and out the door on time, no time like the present to start practising.
But then there is my family. We are already morning people but we really like our mornings to ourselves. Why waste aurora-love on something as boring as school? Of course I'm kidding -- school is wonderful, it's full of all that learning stuff that makes the world go 'round.
Anyhow, in our house, mornings go fast and I often find myself wondering where the hours between nine and noon disappeared. We are all so much more productive in those hours between facing the world and eating lunch. Errands are easier to tackle, playing independently just happens, and chores get done with less whining (on both our parts).
As fast as those early hours pass on a consistent basis, the hours between noon and five are also consistent in torture. They stretch longer than physics really should allow. Especially come three o'clock when I'm thoroughly convinced time comes to an absolute standstill.
Afternoons are boring, therefore sluggish, and no one we hang with wants to do afternoon play dates. We go to the parks and often find them empty and it makes me wonder "where are all the kids?" in a Midwich Cuckoos kind of way. Trust me, it's not an understatement to say that my child is completely bored of me by mid-afternoon.
I don't think I'm alone in finding this annoying pattern in the passage of time during an average weekday. For us, mornings are highly productive and afternoons are highly preventive. Afternoons are sluggish and full of whines -- from all parties involved but mostly me, the clock watcher.So when I received a letter from our new elementary school stating that Gigi will be joining the junior kindergarten class from one to three-thirty on weekdays, I was really pleased. We still get our fun productive mornings together that will include creativity, activity, mum & daughter coffee dates, plus the highly coveted morning family swims at the local rec centre. Then in the afternoon she can go to class, burn off energy with her peers while learning all those wonderful things like Where's Waldo, why B follows A, and how math can be used for not only good but also evil.
And I will actually get client work done during those more productive daylight hours instead of the less creative hours that fall after bedtime. This fact alone excites me more than Viggo Mortensen served on a platter of jelly beans. Sad but true.
So are there any other afternoon kindergarten parents out there? Is there some catch in being happy about not having to rush out the door in the morning to make first bell? Should I be more concerned that the other parents I know in the neighbourhood conveyed pity when I said we were placed in the afternoons? One woman went so far as to clutch my arm and say "if you want me to help you write a letter to the principal to persuade them to move her to the morning program, just say the word" which of course made me panic and think that maybe I shouldn't be so pleased with this afternoon program. To me it seems to be a win-win situation, where I get some productive hours while she is with her friends during what seems to be the most boring part of the day. What am I missing here? Should I be bracing myself for something bad? This inquiring mind needs to know.
Original post to Canada Moms Blog.
image source: Flickr penmachine
