Apollo starts Kindergarten

  Life is pretty amazing.
 By life's trials or by my own genetic make up, I like to look at the big picture before I jump into something. I like to create a plan, set a goal, and look for milestones along the way. By trade, this is also what I do for a living. When I apply it to my own life, I look at Apollo and how far we have come; from an idea to an incredible life Melanie and I created together. I am filled with pride as I watch Apollo hit a major milestone; school.
  As I decided that I wanted to take on the hardest role of my life, fatherhood, I knew everything in my life would change. I knew that I would have to give up control, to an extent, and let the chips fall where they may. I envisioned a life time of being a parent; the ups and downs, the sorrow and joy, the agony of defeat and the triumph of victory. I know that I have only taken baby steps myself in parenting and I also know that I have such a long way to go before I see my sons take on the world with there own abilities, but for now, I am basking in the glory of seeing Apollo start kindergarten.
  My boys are the things in my life that I hold most dear. They are the absolute best part of me. I do not take lightly entrusting them to total strangers, and before now, Apollo has not spent more than a couple hours outside of mine or Melanie's grasp. In 5 years, he has spent only a couple nights without one or both his parents by his side. The exception is when Orion was born, in which case he was with his older brothers and his grandparents. And now, as millions of parents have done, we drop him off at a school with complete strangers, for 6 hours a day. So many thoughts run through your head of all the things that can happen that you have no control over. From the most heinous unspeakable acts of the less than savory populous, to something as simple as a scraped knee; for the first time in his life, his mom or myself are not there to protect him or embrace him when needed. It is these very thoughts that can make for sleepless nights. Kindergarten is not only a milestone for Apollo, but also for his mom and I.
 

  Apollo has had an insatiable thirst for knowledge this summer. He wants to read, and write, and do math. Melanie has given him workbooks this summer to practice writing and learning to read. He is very proud of himself when he recognizes words and can read them. For my part, I work with him on math. I found a wonderful book called Bedtime Math, and ordered it from Amazon. This has been by far the best $10 I have spent in a long time. Not only does Apollo love this book, and math within, he demands we do some problems from the book every night at bed time. They are simple story problems, but he loves them. We also use an app by the same name and I will often make up story problems of my own. I know that I don't always do everything that is right as a parent, but this is one time that I think I am doing some good.

  We are only in the first week of kindergarten, but Melanie and I are both thrilled with how well Apollo has made the transition into being a school kid. I think we were both expecting some drama and a long adjustment period.
  The hardest part for me is getting Apollo to tell me all about his day. I have to pry information out of him. After many questions, I can kind of piece together how his day went. Although I ask him repeatedly, Apollo assures me they are not teaching him any Spanish yet (in his Spanish immersion school).  ~
"So, is Ms Nelson nice?" I ask.
"It's Maestra Nelson. and she is really nice," he replies.
"Okay, sorry. Maestra Nelson then. Do you like you're school?"
"It's called escuela in español, dada," he replies matter-of-factly, "I already told you that I like it."
"I thought that they weren't teaching you any Spanish yet?" I respond sarcastically.
"They're not. I already knew those words."