Put Me In Coach!

Perhaps I am the most naive person in the world, or the most oblivious, but I really did not expect to have issues with my precious son in Kindergarten.  He has been in daycare since he was 8-months-old--right when he got a little too active for me to be taking him to work with me on a daily basis, because that's what I did for months.  Once he turned 2, I starting working only part-time so that I could be home with him more and try to nurture his little personality and mind.  He still went to daycare, though for half the day and when he turned 3, I made sure I enrolled him in an educationally focused center.  I kept hearing about how important it was to socialize him before he reached Kindergarten, so I thought daycare was a good option for both him and for me. 

We had a blast those preschool years!  I even subbed for the daycare and would often go to work there when getting off the air.  I got to know everyone that worked there and all the kids in his classroom.  I thought I had a pretty good handle on my son's social skills, educational abilities, and behavioral aptitude and how he compared to the other students.  (Isn't that a natural thing for a mother to do?).  I thought my youngster was above average educationally,  made friends easily, listened to and respected his teacher, and even though an occasional time-out was needed, be behaved pretty well. 

You can imagine my surprise, or shear astonishment, when my son started bringing home notes from school.  Every week since school has started, he has brought home at least one note per week--sometimes two.  His offenses? 

Talking to the kid behind him during "centers," playing in the restroom, talking in line,  making noise during "rest" time, and talking during circle time.  "Really?" I thought.  "They send notes home for this stuff?"  Yep. 
I guess we had that socializing thing down! 

Now, I will be the first to admit my kiddo is not perfect, whose is?  And I agree that my husband and I needed to be notified when he tried to cut a little girl's hair with his scissors.  Turns out she was bugging him and he decided to take matters into his own hands--and I was devastated. 

In fact, I have been so taken aback by all of this, that I decided it was time to meet with the teacher to see exactly what was going on.  When I told her that I was rather surprised by all of this because "he behaved really well in preschool," her response to me was, "Well, this is a whole new ballgame!" 

Now, since my husband is a teacher, I know the pressures teachers face to get through the curriculum they are expected to by the end of the year, but I had no idea that Kindergarten would be so stressful!  Or, just how fast my 5-year-old was expected to "grow up" and expected to sit still all the time and never utter a word while working on his worksheets in class.  I had trouble with that myself (shocker, I know!  I only talk for a living!) when I was in junior high! 

This all just seems a little too fast too soon.  I really don't know what else to do, but to once again make my presence know in his classroom.  It seemed to work in preschool...so today is my first day being a room mom.  If this is a "whole new ballgame," I say, "put me in coach, I'm ready to play!"