Jude and Kindergarten

As all the other 5 year old kids lingered near mom and dad, Jude bounced around the room happily greeting each person.

“What’s your name?’
“Here’s your cubby and your pencil.”
“My name is Jude.”
“Teacher, when are we going to learn?”

bounce. bounce. bounce.

We’re at meet the teacher and I’m wondering what the other parents think of my… energetic child. Is the teacher worried that he will be difficult to contain? I always get a little nervous about how my “spirited child” will do in new social situations.

I don’t know why I worry, he is always the life of the party and hardly ever has anxiety when it comes to meeting new people. To be honest, I’m not really worried about him, I’m worried about what other people think of him. Almost everywhere we go people politely say, “he has so much energy”, “he’s so active”, “he wins the most enthusiastic award” but I don’t always think their comments are kind. Really they are thinking, “what a wild child”. Jude is not a bad kid, he loves to follow the rules, usually plays nice and is very loving he just has a little more to give than most kids.

The funny thing is, I always worry but he usually gets a great report from his teachers.

This morning Joe walked Jude into his 2nd day of Kindergarten and the teacher happily reported that Jude did wonderfully on his first day and was super attentive in class. It makes my heart so happy to hear these good reports of my kid. Sometimes it can be challenging parenting a “spirited child” but it’s also super rewarding to hear a good report about how well my child behaved when I wasn’t around.

I guess I’m doing something right.

Kindergarten, bring it on.