Getting Ready for Preschool, Kindergarten, or First Grade

There are a lot of things that the schools tell you about to prepare you for Kindergarten.  One of the things I found that they don't tell you, is that you will receiving an unbelievable amount of paper.  Not just your child's drawings, but also flyers, and school information.  My daughter at 5 years old was bringing home a backpack full of paper each week.

Now, her drawings and paintings are precious.  We had started an "art gallery" for her pre-school work, which progressed to holding her works created in Kindergarten.  Many of our friends from pre-school had similar walls of art in their houses, too.  But not even the Smithsonian could handle the numbers of projects she was bringing home.  We couldn't see our kitchen table for a month after school started.

I found two solutions which worked for me. Not all of her artwork was on 8.5" x 11" paper.  That would've fit nicely into folders...I needed something oversized to handle her larger artwork.  I ended up taking a piece of tri-fold poster-board, and a couple of thumb fasteners.  I put her large artworks in the back, and the smaller pieces in front, and then put the thumb fasteners on opposite sides of the tri-fold.  A small piece of string held everything together securely.

After that one was filled up, I started looking for something already put together.  Something with sides, so that the smallest pieces wouldn't fall out.  I looked up artist portfolios on Amazon.  There I found a handled portfolio that was also made of recycled materials.  It was big enough for her largest pieces, and also would expand up to 2" to handle the amount of art she was producing.

I just picked an extra one up for First Grade, which is right around the corner now.

About me and this blog

They say that you should write what you know. In the course of life you sometimes learn things that you never thought you would need to know. In my case that was how to deal with the loss of a spouse.

Last year, my wife of 17 years passed away. It was a shock to me, and our little girl. Sometimes I still don't know how we made it through that first month, but we did. I think it was through the goodwill and hard work of our friends, family and neighbors that did it. I would say that we're at a point where we're on our own now, but that's not entirely true. Our friends and family still are hanging in there with us.

Over the course of the past year, I've learned two things. First, how to deal with a sudden unexpected loss...It's still a work in progress there. The second is how to be a better dad. I was a good dad before, don't get me wrong, but I had a wonderful partner who helped me raise our daughter. She's gone now, so the full weight of both parents is on my shoulders.

This blog is intended for any other dads or moms that are out there, in this same situation. You are not alone. It may feel like it, but there are other people going through this same thing every day. If I can in any way provide a bit of relief from the stress, that's what I'm aiming to do.

I'm also going to use this to list some of the fun things Cincinnati has to offer single and married parents alike. This is a great town to raise a child in, and there are lots of activities each weekend if you know where to look for them.