Adventures in Bennionland

Today was the last day of Will’s K.I.D.S program through our community center. It has been one of the best things for him as he learned to make friends and have time without Mom and Walker around.

Of course I was emotional about it – though I couldn’t decide if I was sad (a) because it was over and it’s such a wonderful thing for him or (b) because it’s over for me and it’s been a good thing for me Will was actually apathetic about the whole thing – when I asked him if he was going to miss it he remarked simply “No.”. Well ok.

He made some cute things over the course of his preschool. I think I’m going to save a couple of them and then scan the rest. With the digital age there is just no need to store everything on hand. So having a couple of digital copies of his crafts will be good enough for us.

One of the things he made over the last few months that we (parents) got on the last day was a book set to the story of Down on Grandpa’s Farm. He had cut out shapes to make a scarecrow, barns, and different animals. It is more than adorable. The best part is the “about the illustrator” page. The teachers asked each kid to tell about themselves and the teachers wrote it down. Here is Will’s:

“Will is four. He lives in California with Papa, KK, and Mommy and Daddy. They have a black and white dog. Will likes the color white. His favorite food is crispy white cheese. He likes to play with propellers. He loves to visit the Jelly Belly Factory. When Will grows up he would like to be a builder.”

Don’t ask me what crispy white cheese is – I’m still trying to figure it out! It’s the cutest thing and fortunately Walker doesn’t realize he got kicked out of the house.

When I finally did get him to tell me what he’d miss about preschool, his answer was ‘Ryan, the helper’. He really bonded with Ryan especially because in the Fall, while we were traveling back and forth to see Grandpa Bob, Will wasn’t comfortable with being in class and sat with Ryan.

All of his teachers were fantastic and we appreciate the nine months of learning they’ve helped to give Will.

Mrs. Jackson

Mrs. Weidman

Ryan

Today I received my smarts in the mail. When ever I disagreed with my mom when I was younger my mom would point to her diploma and tell me to listen to her because she was smart and he diploma was the proof of that. So I have always been excited to have my own and carry on that tradition with my kids.

I have been on almost a two year quest to get my diploma. It took me two and a half years at Weber State University to “finish” my bachelor’s degree. I transfered to WSU with an AS in general studies and was rip roarin’ ready to go. I had a great time studying History and Asian Studies at WSU. Among the highlights were two seminars taught by Omar Kader, a very enlightening class on the art and architecture of India, and learning Tai Chi.

After graduation it was a comedy of errors, to be fair there were a few mistakes that I made that caused my problems and some organizational errors on the part of the university that popped up at the most inconvenient times. So after 2 1/2 years in the mail today was:

See that diploma… I am smart!

You think that just because your child has started rolling, then eating big boy food, then crawling, and then walking, and then talking that you have hit all the firsts. In fact the first year, or two, are so filled with big events that you forget how precious other firsts are. I’ve failed to blog about a lot of firsts…but today we experienced a big one.

Will started preschool. He has been excited for preschool all summer as we’ve been working on potty training so that he could go. Last week we had the meet & greet and he was thrilled to meet the other kids and play with the toys. Today he was more apprehensive about going, which had more to do with having to leave his toys behind.

Today was a short day so that the kids could get used to their teachers and the room. Some kids needed to get used to now having mom and dad around, but for Will that wasn’t an issue. He was more than happy to kiss me goodbye and walk in.

This moment is special for me not just because of the experience that Will is about to embark on, but also for the time that Walker and I will now get to have. Being second child isn’t any easy role. Since I am the oldest (as is Eric) we of course think that first children get the raw deal…but the reality is that each kid is subjected to the good and bad of parenting.

Having Will at preschool twice at week for a couple of hours will give Walker and I time we haven’t ever had before. He thrives when he gets to play on his own or when just he and I read stories. I cannot wait to experience this first with him – and see what other first emerge from it. I’ll keep you all updated as I can.

For now, here are some pictures from Will’s first day: