Off to Kindergarten

Anders started off to school today--first day of Kindergarten. He was ready. He didn't even balk when the bus pulled up--he just climbed right on board. It looked like he even found someone to share a seat.

Nils was ready for it, too. He headed out with his backpack and a smile on his face. He knows he's going to "Pappa's School" this year (we call it Pappa's School of Hard Knocks--I guess that would be P-SOHK). He was disappointed that he didn't get to ride a bus to his school today and that his school was just the old desk in the corner of his bedroom. But he did get a field trip--to the grocery store.

Everyone had been asking us how we'll handle sending our first-born off to school. It really wasn't too big of a deal (though it may have been if we had given ourselves time to reflect on it this morning--especially about how time is flying by so quickly). The only tears shed were from Nils. And that was more about the fact that he had to stay home rather than Anders leaving. I think it's going to be hardest on him, not having his big brother around in the mornings. At least for a while. I think it's also going to make my job harder only having Nils around now, since he'll be more in demand of my attention. He was talking nonstop the whole time in the car this morning as we were going to get groceries and run errands.

Anders is ready for school, though. I know some people understandably have a hard time sending their kids off to school. Some don't even do it, opting to home school, simply because they're afraid of their kids getting tainted. And that is a concern of ours--the things Anders will pick up from the older kids on the bus (thankfully it's only K-3rd grade).

But as Pastor Efrem pointed out last Sunday, if we're investing in our children as parents and being good stewards with them, we have nothing to fear. Efrem said, "Why does peer pressure always have to be negative--that we're afraid of what the world is going to do to our kids? No. The world needs to be afraid of what our kids are going to do to them. That's positive peer pressure."

I guess that's an added benefit of being a stay-at-home parent as well (the pay sucks, but there are some benefits): I get to train my children up in the way they should go so that I don't have to worry about them when they're off on their own. There are still plenty of lessons to learn, but he'll do fine. He'll succeed. And he'll have us there to cheer him on the whole way.