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Kindergarten

We went to the kindergarten orientation the other night, and I found myself unsettled afterward. I should start by saying we aren't yet 100% sure we'll go to the neighborhood school; they only offer half day for kindergarten (somewhat problematic for working parents).

At any rate, I wasn't unsettled by the school itself. By the end of the evening we felt pretty good about it. Admittedly having them talk about snacks and backbacks before the content of a typical day didn't match my priorities. (OK, I know different parents have different concerns, but mine are really about what is he going to be doing day to day, what is going to be learning). And my uneasiness was not about sending him off to school, since he's been in day care full time for 4 years. And it's not the thought of putting a little guy on the bus alone (well ok, maybe that a little).

On some reflection, I realized was unsettled me was all the forms we brought home. Starting school means it is time for him to be tracked and stacked and other impersonal stuff, like "do you really live in this town?" Yeah, I know he's been in the system since the day he was born (hey the kid even has a passport) but something about a stack of forms really did it for me.

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