Yesterday was The Boy's first day of Kindergarten. I'm still not entirely sure if it was good or bad. I think The Boy and I are still processing everything.

This week has been a crazy one here. Justin has been in Elvis-ville at a trial since Saturday. My brother-in-law and sister-in-law came to visit. The Middle Girl chose to regress in her toilet skills one day and other things just seemed to crop up right and left.

But back to yesterday -- as crafty and artsy as I may like to pretend to be, the craft award for yesterday goes to my aunt. Few of you may be aware that there is a German tradition that when a child starts school they get a cone (scroll to the article a "History of Schultüten") filled with school supplies and goodies. My ethnic background is mostly German and my aunt lived in Germany for almost thirty years. She picked up a lot of traditions living there including sending children a school cone when they start Kindergarten. My brothers and I got cones when we went to school -- I still have mine up in the attic. Now my aunt is starting on the next generation. She made The Boy a big cone and two small ones for his sisters.

The Boy didn't need many school supplies, because of the nature of a Waldorf Kindergarten, but we filled it with things he loves like paints, paper, stickers and I threw in a wooden pop gun rifle, just because it would appall the people at his school. Not that they'll know about it, but it pleased me none-the-less. I got The Middle Girl a little wooden ray gun for her cone. She'll have to wait until she starts Kindergarten to get a big gun.

Opening the cones was fun for the kids and started the morning nicely, but it meant we didn't have a lot of time to eat and straighten up the house. Because my husband is out of town, people from church have offered to help a lot. One of the elder's wives came over yesterday morning and watched the girls so I could take The Boy to school -- just the two of us.

The Boy and I went off to the opening ceremony for the school, where the teachers and the curriculum for the year are introduced and where all the first graders get a rose for passing from the young child program to the grades.

Parents then walked their kids down the hall to the Kindergarten, where the teacher met us at the door, took the kids in and closed the parents out. And that was that. I had expected a chance to give hugs, take pictures and all. The Boy was fine without me, but I had a little separation anxiety.

When the girls and I came back a few hours later to pick him up, he didn't say much. With some questioning on my part, it came out that he wasn't too happy. They had to play quietly, not converse during snack time and he has to share a bench with a girl he doesn't like very much. I'm not sure how all this will play out in the end and I hope he starts to like it better. If I'm going to send him to school, I want it to be a place he loves.

Maybe today will be better.