Amy J. Bennett

This morning we were awakened by a serious cry from Lexi in the bedroom.  I thought maybe she’d fallen off the bed or something.  I listened for a few more seconds and determined it was more of a “Emma just took my toy” kind of cry so I told her to come in my room.  She did, still crying and crawled in bed beside me.  I asked what was wrong and she wouldn’t tell me at first and in a teenage-like angst said, “Emma won’t be my best-est friend!”  Poor thing.  She’s said this a couple times when Emma doesn’t want to play a game or go somewhere Lexi wants to go.  I had Emma come in the room and had them “make up” but I’m telling you, Lexi LOVES her big sissy.

Alright, today was the big Kindergarten registration day.  All four of us went so Lexi could see where Emma would be when we tried to explain where she was come August.  The entire process was VERY organized.  They had five stations you had to go to.  We only had to pay $20 to register.  Sweet!!  Preschool snack fee is more than that!  The first station noticed that there was ANOTHER Emma.  Apparently that is the name of the year.  Seriously, EVERY girl there was named Emma.  There was Emma Jo, Emma Lee, Emma Caroline.  One time they actually called for the parents of Emma and we were like which one??

So we filled out a ton of paperwork and then Emma got her speech checked.  Her and another little girl got theirs done at the same time.  They went by themselves.  I had a little moment of panic when they took her by herself.  I was hoping Emma didn’t freak out and not talk–especially on  her speech test!  When they came out and we went to the last station, the lady asked her her name and both Scott and I looked at each other shocked when Emma said “Emma.”  Honestly, Emma is SO shy at talking to strangers.

So after that, they took the two girls down to the library.  All the Kindergarten teachers were each at a table and worked with one child individually on their evaluation. They had the sheet in our packet so I got to see what they test them on.  They had to recognize the numbers and letters and also count a set of 10 objects.  They had to recognize their colors and shapes and body parts.  And the only part that was sketchy for Emma was their phone number, address and birthdate.  Emma just told me yesterday that they are going to learn their phone number in school so the teacher said that’s what Emma told her.  She could tell her our city and the month of her birthday but that was it.  She said she did excellent and she was not shy at all and was enthusiastic giving her the answers.  When they called us back in, Emma was shy again, wanting on my lap and hugging me close.

While we were waiting was the only time I got a little panicked.  Lexi, Scott and I were in the hallway and Emma had been in the library for a few minutes and Lexi asked where Emma was and then said, “I want my sissy back!”  I looked and Scott and said I can’t do this!  There’s definitely going to be some adjustment on our parts without Emma around all the time.

At the end, we bought Emma a t-shirt and hair bow and sticker for our car.  They said they have spirit week the first Friday in the month and Emma was excited about the bow although I think she could have cared less about the shirt.  They have cute colors…maroon, black and yellow.

Although I was nervous when Emma had to go do things by herself and I know we’ll have some adjustments to make with her gone most of the day, I got excited for her today.  Everyone was so nice and I know she is going to love her new friends and all the activities they do.  The school is literally 1.4 miles and 3 minutes from our house so I don’t think taking her and picking her up is going to be an issue.   But really, I’m glad we have five months before she actually starts!  I really think we’ll both be excited about it by then.