First day of kinder for Sammy Bammy

I've been harbouring quite a bit of angst about the kids going to school...will they make friends? will they understand what's going on? will the other kids pick on them because they're different? I could go on.

First day of kinder!!

We consider ourselves lucky to get Sam a kinder spot near Charlie's school, and he's just excited that he can go back and run on the green carpet (the ladies were steam cleaning the carpet when we popped in to find out about admissions and the kids were forbidden from going on the green carpet...forbidden fruit and all that).

Sam starts on a Wednesday and on the first day I'm presented with a list of things to provide to the kinder for Sam:
1. 2 packets of pencils
2. 2 packets of pens
3. Sheets
4. Blanket
5. Cardboard cups
6. Pencil case (but only for 5 year olds)
7. Exercise book (but only for 5 year olds)
8. Paper towels
9. Pillow
10 A towel
11. A bib

While I'm reading the list the question marks start popping up...
Why 2 packets of pencils and pens? Are they colored textas and pencils or just plain? How big should the sheets be, should they be for a single bed or the ikea kids bed size? What's the towel for? Is it a hand towel, face washer or a proper towel? I'll get a face washer.
Surely a child of 4 doesn't need to wear a bib, that's ridiculous, I'm not buying a bib! Why do I need to get cardboard cups? I can't find these in the supermarket except really expensive Winnie the Pooh ones and they only have a pack of 6, will Sam be ostracized for using plastic cups? Better get the paper cups.
If the pencil cases are only for 5 year olds, where does he keep his pencils and pens?
We need a backpack. When I see the prices of backpacks in the supermarket and other shops I wish we had packed theirs from Aus. The cheapest ones are about 30 euros and they go up to 80 euros. For. A Backpack. Shane and I wish we hadn't brought the kids with us to choose their backpack because after we tell them to choose we see the prices. Sam's happy with his Power Rangers backpack for the bargain price of 28 euros. We take Charlie into a sports shop and he gets a hiking backpack instead. Poor bugger just wanted one with skulls and graffiti but that wasn't gonna happen at those prices.

Wednesday is the first day for Sammy. When it comes around I think we have everything we need. I carefully pack everything into a big bag to take to kinder. Sam rocks up, excited to get on the green carpet. Looking around I see children are wearing grembiules or smocks over their clothes and they are putting on slippers. WHERE WERE THEY ON THE LIST?! And sure enough, the sheets are ikea size, the towels are bigger than face washers and all the kids have bibs with their names neatly cross-stitched on them. I have never cross stitched in my life. I am a wannabe sewer and knitter, but anyone who knows me can attest to my lack of handy womanly skills.

We meet the teachers who are just lovely and they have an amazing ability to spend time with each child and parent and keep the classroom under control. I like this place. Sam is happy here and there's a window for him to wave from when we walk onto the street so it ticks the boxes.

After we drop him off I write a list and head off to buy bibs, bigger towels, cotton for stitching his name on and plastic cups (all the kids have plastic cups!!)

We work out that to eat at the mensa we need to fill out a form at one of the public offices and pay in cash. When I get there I see that there is an option to put dietary intolerances, so I tick it because he's got an intolerance to lactose. But I can't hand the form in because it needs to be accompanied by a doctors certificate. I run outside and explain the situation to Shane, who says that maybe we just don't tick that he has an intolerance. Two days later I head back and have ticked 'No' in the box for dietary intolerances to see if we can get it through (don't worry people, Sam's pretty good with what he can and can't eat)..The people at the office say we can't do that and we need to get a doctor, by going to another department, who can then refer us to a pediatrician, who can then conduct tests and give the certificate, which we can then use to accompany the mensa form so he can eat at kinder...all this transpires one day before I am going to head off to France and Turkey with mum, so it's left in Shane's capable hands to navigate the rough waters of Italian educational and health services bureaucracy.

Day 2, kitted out with grembiule, mittens and beanie

All in all, a successful start to kinder for Sam. He's happy in his slippers and grembiule, loves playing on the slide when he first gets to kinder and really likes his teachers because they make him paper airplanes. What more could a 4 year old want :)