Kindergarten Musings

David's first full week of Kindergarten has led to some interesting observations on effects of school restraints.

THIRST

Before: David's always been a thirsty kid.  I wasn't sure which of my kids was anomalous after I had Daniel, since he only drinks a fraction of what David does.  When our niece got diagnosed with Type-I diabetes and my mother-in-law said her constant thirst was the symptom that alerted her to the problem, I panicked.  David is always thirsty.  So last summer I had my sister-in-law check David's blood while she was doing her daughter's, just to be sure.  I was relieved to find out he's "normal" as far as diabetes goes; I guess he's just exceptionally thirsty.  

Now: The first couple days when I picked him up from school, he'd beg and berate me for a drink.  How dare I not have one ready the moment he stepped in the car!  I've decided that it's simply a result of not being free to get a drink as often as he would at home.  I've also decided it is to everyone's benefit to have a water bottle on hand for him so he can slake his thirst and not keep complaining about how thirsty he is all the way home.

ENERGY

Before:  My mom used to say she's never seen such a busy child.  I can't tell you how many times a day I tell David he needs to keep his feet on the floor.  He's usually climbing up or jumping off something, or just running around the house in circles.

Now:  Raise that to the n-th power.  I was convinced I needed to go out and find a 4-foot hamster wheel to install in his bedroom after his first day of school.  He was almost literally bouncing off the walls.  Can we get two recesses, please?

TALKING

Before:  David didn't really start talking until he was three.  He's been fairly chatty since then, and Nathan and I joked that he was making up for lost jabber.  He's not the kind of kid you can tune out though.  He wants direct responses to his chatter and follows up with periodic pop quizzes to make sure you've been listening.

Now:  Non.Stop.  Energizer Bunny of conversation.  Chatterbox.  All of the above.  Once again, he can't vocalize as much as he normally would, so he makes up for lost opportunities once he gets home.  I commented on this to Nathan, how David doesn't seem to really have anything particular to say, yet he keeps on talking about anything and everything.  Nathan shrugged and said "that's okay," but after about two hours of D's breathless chatter, he turned to me (David still talking in the background) and said, "You're right; he just doesn't stop!"