Another Day Of Firsts

While my first and second graders started school last week, it wasn’t until today that three other family members started school. My kids attend Catholic school, and both my wife and I work at the public school, both of which are a block from our house (the school share an intersection). I could talk about how great it is to be back doing crossing guard again helping kids, but that’s not nearly as important and post-worthy as what my wife is doing this year, which is student teaching. She’s in a first grade classroom and will be there all year. She’s working on a dual program which will get her both a Teaching Certificate, allowing her to be a classroom teacher, as well as getting a Master’s Degree in teaching. Still, despite the weight of what she is doing, that’s not even what I want to talk about here.

Ciárán had a day with two “firsts” – the first day at his new preschool and also his first day with glasses. We changed his preschool because of scheduling. He now attends the preschool attached to the school our kids go to. It’s a shorter day for him, but ultimately the timing just works out better for us. It’s also a lot cheaper. Plus, since the new preschool teacher is the old kindergarten teacher, we know he’ll be prepared for next year.

It is, however, the glasses that everybody was nervous about, yet Ciárán was the most calm, cool, and collected of us all. I have worn glasses since longer than I can remember. I have horrible eyesight. My oldest son got glasses a couple of years ago. My wife didn’t used to, but now wears glasses. It was inevitable that one of the younger kids would need them at some point.

A few weeks ago we made the appointment and Laura took Ciárán in to see the doctor. I didn’t get to take him, but he reportedly did great, sitting still, trying to comply with all of the instructions, etc. We got the call yesterday afternoon that his glasses were ready to pick up. We were in a bit of a quandary, as I had to take August and Déla to a school activity, and dinner still needed to be made, with bedtimes to consider, especially for the youngest child. After a few moments of deliberation, it was decided that I would take August and Déla to their activity, and while I was there Laura would take Ciárán and Xavier to pick up the glasses before they close. Dinner would be late, some people might be a little late to bed, but it was more important to get Ciárán his glasses so he could have them for his first day at his new preschool.

Fortunately he doesn’t feel any stigma about having to wear the glasses, perhaps because mom and dad do every day. Maybe it is because it helps him to feel like a “big kid” which is always a struggle with two older siblings in the house. Maybe he’s just reaching a maturity level that is appropriate. Whatever the reason, we’re thankful he didn’t resist.

ciaran glasses sep 2011While at the activity, both August and Déla were anxious to get back home and see Ciárán in his glasses. They kept discussing it, wondering aloud how he would look. They were great, when we arrived home, they gave him nothing but compliments on how he looked in his glasses (which he picked out).

I am so glad we made the decision to go ahead and adjust the schedule to pick up the glasses so he could have them for his first day of school. He had a couple of hours yesterday with them to get adjusted, and anybody with glasses will tell you, new prescriptions always make the floor a bit… wobbly. Better to get that out of the way. This morning he came downstairs without his glasses, and when asked where they were, he immediately ran to get them. Of course this will take a couple of times since it is a new thing in his routine.

Everybody got off to their respective schools on time, and I’m sure I should be writing a post about how that happened, because it involved asking for help since we simply couldn’t be in two places at once during one 45 minute period, but I’ll skip that.

The morning was tough for me, as I was anxious to see Ciárán, and how his first day at his new preschool went, as well as how he was holding up with his glasses under “normal” conditions. Naturally, he did great, as if everything was as it always had been. Silly dad. So anticlimactic.