# Dropped off my eldest child at kindergarten today **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 2, 2010, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropped-off-my-eldest-child-at-kindergarten-today/548909 "2010-08-02T17:30:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropped-off-my-eldest-child-at-kindergarten-today/548909/1 "2010-08-02T17:30:17Z")
Wow, time flies. It doesn’t seem like that long ago we were struggling to conceive, but this morning my wife and I (with our 3-yr old daughter in tow) dropped of our son for his first day of kindergarten. If he was nervous, he didn’t show it. It’s a nice, new school pretty close to our house (but too far to walk). Saw the media lab, the computer room, the gym today. I remarked that my school didn’t have a computer room and my wife snarked “Really? In 1975?” According to our neighbor with the older children, our son has the best K teacher on the staff. He recognized two of the kids in his class from church or nursery school so there were at least a couple of familiar faces. The first week is only half-days for the kindergarteners, so my wife picked him up at 11:15 and he _bounded_ to the car, smiling. “I love kindergarten!” he said. That’s my boy! _sniff_ ---
**Author:** ![gardentraveler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gardentraveler/32/3576_2.png) [@gardentraveler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gardentraveler)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropped-off-my-eldest-child-at-kindergarten-today/548909/2 "2010-08-02T19:24:08Z")
Awww. My niece is currently learning to drive. :eek: I still remember the poster she made in kindergarten where she listed General Tso’s Chicken as her favorite food. Sigh. Time really does fly, doesn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropped-off-my-eldest-child-at-kindergarten-today/548909/3 "2010-08-03T00:28:38Z")
Ah, the first day of kindergarten Happy Dance! I remember it well…my daughter was so eager to get on that bus (and we were lucky enough to have full-day kindergarten) and then I took her baby brother to preschool and went back to bed for the first nap I’d had in 7 years! ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropped-off-my-eldest-child-at-kindergarten-today/548909/4 "2010-08-03T20:16:54Z")
My oldest grandson is taking driving lessons. Yes, time flies. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropped-off-my-eldest-child-at-kindergarten-today/548909/5 "2010-08-03T20:20:51Z")
As Dave Chappelle says, “You used to live in my BALLS! And now you’re making jewelry out of macaroni. You’re a bad motherfucker!” Pretty cool stuff. ---
**Author:** ![JerseyFrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bcef8e/32.png) [@JerseyFrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerseyFrank)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropped-off-my-eldest-child-at-kindergarten-today/548909/6 "2010-08-03T20:22:04Z")
I’m happy our daughter has an October birthday; it gives me an ‘extra’ year of her being my little not-school-aged girl. 🙂 We had Commodore 64 computers in school, but not until my final 2 years of grade school; and even then, you had to join the computer club. \ How many children do you have? 2? _ **Elder.** _ \ (sorry) ---
**Author:** ![Marlitharn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@Marlitharn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlitharn)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropped-off-my-eldest-child-at-kindergarten-today/548909/7 "2010-08-04T14:33:24Z")
[Here’s](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=271980&highlight=baby) the thread I started six years ago when my baby started kindergarten. Seems like it was only last week. And today I’m taking her to final registration for middle school. Time doesn’t just fly; it freaking _warps_. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropped-off-my-eldest-child-at-kindergarten-today/548909/8 "2010-08-04T14:40:54Z")
School at the beginning of August? Really? My daughter’s first day of kindergarten was September 11, 2001. Talk about mixed emotions! ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropped-off-my-eldest-child-at-kindergarten-today/548909/9 "2010-08-04T14:50:17Z")
My big boy is starting the second grade this year…_second grade_! I can’t believe it. My youngest missed the birthday cut by a few days and so will go to Kindergarten next year even though he’ll be 5 in 4 days (and I’ll be 41 in 2 days, my Mom will be 65 in 5 days…lot of Leos up in heah!)… ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropped-off-my-eldest-child-at-kindergarten-today/548909/10 "2010-08-04T15:42:35Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > School at the beginning of August? Really? > > My daughter’s first day of kindergarten was September 11, 2001. Talk about mixed emotions! My reaction as well. When has the school year started on August 2nd? ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropped-off-my-eldest-child-at-kindergarten-today/548909/11 "2010-08-04T15:45:02Z")
Did you take the picture of him in his brand-spanking-new clothes holding his lunch box? Everyone around here has one of those. My lunch box was a yellow Minnie Mouse one. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropped-off-my-eldest-child-at-kindergarten-today/548909/12 "2010-08-04T17:22:15Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > School at the beginning of August? Really? I think it’s weird too, but it’s normal around here. The public schools here are on a more-or-less full year schedule where they have nine weeks of school, two weeks off, nine weeks on, etc. and then summer vacation starts before Memorial Day and ends early August. This week, the kindergarteners just attend for two half-days as a phase-in period. Next week it’s a full schedule, and our boy gets to ride to school with Daddy as I drop him off on my way to work. > [@kushiel](#): > > Did you take the picture of him in his brand-spanking-new clothes holding his lunch box? Everyone around here has one of those. My lunch box was a yellow Minnie Mouse one. They told us to give him money for lunch the first week, so he knows how to use the cafeteria. Starting next week he’ll bring his lunch most days in the same lunchbox he used for pre-K last year. It’s a Spiderman! ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropped-off-my-eldest-child-at-kindergarten-today/548909/13 "2010-08-04T17:53:18Z")
I’m going to take my youngest to kindergarten next week. _mighty sniff_ It seems just yesterday he was a brand new lil Doper. This year I’ve got one in high school, one in middle school, and one in elementary. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropped-off-my-eldest-child-at-kindergarten-today/548909/14 "2010-08-04T18:33:20Z")
He just called me at work (he’s home for the day) to tell me about his Second Day, which included a lunch of speghetti and meatballs (“but not as good as Mommy’s because there was some kind of oil on it” :)), corn (“but not on the stick”), and chocolate milk. When pressed he was unable to tell me anything else about his day other than what he had for lunch. He takes after his dad! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Hedda\_Rosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hedda_rosa/32/1204_2.png) [@Hedda\_Rosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hedda_Rosa)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropped-off-my-eldest-child-at-kindergarten-today/548909/15 "2010-08-04T18:35:45Z")
My youngest is starting K in 2 weeks too. I’m feeling mixed about it - I love hanging out with my school-age kids, and they are so interesting…but oh how I miss my babies. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Onimous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@Ann\_Onimous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Onimous)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropped-off-my-eldest-child-at-kindergarten-today/548909/16 "2010-08-04T18:39:30Z")
First day of kindergarten. (sniff) Our son cried uncontrollably when we had to leave him. I had to take his favorite hat off, and honestly I clutched it and cried for hours. He cried every day until we moved back home a month later. Then, after a few days, he was okay. I think the school size had a whole lot to do with it: up there, his school was K-6th, and when we came home, he was in a K-1st school. Our daughter? She went in, sat down on her line, and said, “Okay, mom. I love you. You can go now.” That’s about what I did to my grandma on my first day, so I see where that comes from. Our two go into 6th grade this fall. They start next Thursday. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropped-off-my-eldest-child-at-kindergarten-today/548909/17 "2010-08-04T18:47:05Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > My big boy is starting the second grade this year…_second grade_! I can’t believe it. My youngest missed the birthday cut by a few days and so will go to Kindergarten next year even though he’ll be 5 in 4 days (and I’ll be 41 in 2 days, my Mom will be 65 in 5 days…lot of Leos up in heah!)… My birthday is New Year’s Eve, and back then(1959) a kid could start kindergarten at four, if they would be five by New Year’s Day. So I would have been the youngest, all through school. Thanks heavens my folks waited and sent me the following year. So I could have graduated from high school in '72, but instead it was '73. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropped-off-my-eldest-child-at-kindergarten-today/548909/18 "2010-08-04T18:57:07Z")
My son started seventh grade yesterday. He’s almost a ‘man’…when did that happen?!? The trend here in Northern California seems to be to start the school year earlier and earlier over the past several years, but I don’t know of any other schools locally that started as early as ours (excluding ‘year-round’ schools). Our son’s school is on what they call a ‘modified traditional’ schedule. They start in early August, then get a two-week break at the end of each quarter. The first break is end of September/beginning of October, then the traditional Christmas break, and another break in the Spring. This year, “Spring Break” falls almost a full month before Easter, so that gives us the chance to go on a vacation without having to deal with all of the crowds. 🙂 School ends June 2nd. they’ll have 8 weeks for Summer Break, then start all over again in August. ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropped-off-my-eldest-child-at-kindergarten-today/548909/19 "2010-08-04T19:19:59Z")
I hate that my children are growing up. My little boy is losing all his baby fat! There’s nothing to bury my nose in when I push my face against his cheeks! It makes me sad to think of him starting kindergarten at the big school next spring. And as for my little girl, each time she calls me mama in that sweet, breathy little voice and holds her arms out to me after cruising on the coffee table and gleefully tossing all the mail on the floor I want to stop time. God, this time last year she wasn’t even full term inside me. And now she’s learning to walk?! That’s just wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropped-off-my-eldest-child-at-kindergarten-today/548909/20 "2010-08-04T19:49:22Z")
Since we’re talking about kindergarten here any tips on selecting one? Junior will start next fall and we have a handful of them around here to choose from. Most are your basic public elementary schools but there is also an engineering magnet school and an arts magnet school (engineering for kindergartners??). The only stuff I can find on-line are teacher/kid ratios (which range from 1:14 - 1:19), race distributions, and % of kids eligible for free lunch (low income families). I can tour any/all of them but really have no idea what to look for or what to ask. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropped-off-my-eldest-child-at-kindergarten-today/548909.md?page=2)