School Age

We said goodbye to our pre-school “haus” this week and hello to school age day camp!  Marco is so excited, I think he may burst. 

Mondays are arts and crafts and “wheel days.”  The kids go to a big park where they can ride around on their wheels from home – we selected his Razor.

Tuesdays are field trips.  Week one is the Jelly Belly Factory!  I thought Marco’s eyes would burst out of his head when I told him.  His tongue literally wagged.

Wednesday are Swimming and Water Slide days.  GROWN. UP.

Thursdays are Park Days.  The kids picnic and spend the day outside at an awesome park.

Fridays are Cooking Days.  One week is pizza.  Pahchaw.  As if Marco couldn't teach that class.

I have to admit that I'm a little bit concerned with Marco being the youngest of the group.  Field trips!  He lacks focus!  What if he gets lost?  Luckily, he knows many of the bigger kids and they’re all very sweet to him.  Plus, a big handful of kids from Kinder Haus made the transition with him and more will join throughout the summer as they turn five. 

Things I’ll miss:  the loving nature of the teachers in pre-school, being with kids his own age and the weekly educational themes.

Things I won’t miss: the ban on superheroes (they encourage violent play!), Marco’s friend who gets him in trouble daily (I’m sure his parents are saying the same thing about our bad influence) and the nap.  We’re looking forward to a very tired boy at bedtime.

Jeff dropped Marco for his first day and I think he summarized our feelings with this text to me.  “School age is rad.” 

He also included these pics:

(Pictured with Marco's uber-cool friend Shane - whose Dad is the police officer and inspired Marco's pre-school graduation career.)

Little Man

Marco is in a serious Dad phase. 

"Dad, I can't wait until I grow up so I can be a Dad with a big belly and hairy armpits!"  Yikes.

At 5, I'm starting to worry I'll never be the preferred parent, so I've had to step up my fun quotient.  I've dusted off my baseball glove, brought treats home after my runs and taken him to his favorite place to eat - the sushi restaurant.  He polished off two raw fish tuna tekka rolls. That's 16 pieces!  Sushi may become an expensive habit for us. 

His favorite spot is at the bar in front of the sushi chef.  "Mom, can I talk to him?"  "Sure."  "Excuse me, did you catch all this fish?  Can I have my tekka roll in 10 pieces?  Okay, eight?"

They grow up so fast.

Great Expectations

At 5, Marco is a fun partner.  And yet, my basic daily expectations seem far below his pay scale.

1. Flush the toilet.  Flush the toilet!

2. Wash your hands.

3. The moments following walking in the door should not be filled with, "Can I have a play date?" "Can I have a snack?" or "Can I watch a movie?"

4.  The moments after waking up should not be filled with, "Did you bring me a treat?"  "I'm hungry" or "Is today a day or a weekend?"

4. Request to set, and after, be excused from the table.  "Why do I always have to set the table?  You never do it."

In exchange, you'll receive room, board and enough food to feed two 5-year olds.

Graduation

Time flies.

We've been at Lakeshore Children's for almost two years now.  Marco's stay there culminated last week with a sweet pre-school graduation.  Leading up to the graduation, Marco was very excited to sing the coconut song and very hesitant about wearing an outfit that "makes [him] look like a girl." 

The big finish was each child standing up to say what they wanted to be when they grow up.

Marco: "When I grow up, I want to be a police man because I like helping people." 

There were about four boys with that one, so I'm not calling the Academy yet.  My personal favorite was Marco's friend who said he wanted to be a Dad and a pizza maker, pretty much legitimizing Jeff's life path.

And here are a few gems courtesy of Grandma Cecchin:

Speedy

My running partner and I are so fast, I'm surprise Jeff was able to snap this pic! 

 

Marco and I took our matching shades and shoes out for a run.  We even listened to our own music.  Not a bad little Mother's Day...