Nikhil Kini's Blog

Aug 22nd, 2011  - The day finally arrived. My first day in Kindergarten at Mockingbird Elementary. Since the school starts early, my parents woke me up at around 6:30. I followed my usual routine of having my milk and breakfast, took a shower and got ready to go to school. Since it was my first day, I called my grandparents in India for their blessings.

Since it was my first day today, both my parents came to drop me off at school. They also allowed the parents to drop us to the classroom. As soon as I walked in, the teacher asked me to wear my name tag. I then kept my bag in the cubby and my lunch box outside and went around the class. I found my chair and asked my parents to leave. 

I made a lot of new friends today, Amanda, Connor, Blake, Nico, Anu, Aromi, Madeline, Srikar, Vivek, Tanvi, Joshua and Radhika. The teacher made me draw a picture of something I did over the summer.  We read a book called "Mrs Bindergarten is ready for Kindergarten". The other book we read was "Mama, Don't Go".  I had lunch with Connor and Anu. I get to eat in the cafeteria.

I had a snack in the afternoon with Blake, Connor, Aromi and Amanda. After snack, we played a game called Star Falls on the Smart Board. I got B as a match letters card game. Soon it was time to go home. We waited outside for our parents to come and pick me up.

An exciting 1st day at school.

Aug 21st, 2011  - Tomorrow is the day when I embark on a new chapter in my life, Kindergarten. After going to Rockbrook Montessori for the couple of years, I am going to start my Elementary school at the Mockingbird Elementary. Earlier this week, we had "Meet the Teacher" evening where I met my Kindergarten teacher, Mrs Moore. I also got a chance to look at my new class. I have a cubby and a chair with my name on it.

This weekend was very busy shopping for my "off-to-school" essentials. We got a new lunch bag, box, bottle and other things that I would need for my school. My parents also took me to the temple to make sure I have blessings from above. We also shopped for the fall and winter as well.

I also have to get used to a new routine where I have to sleep early and wake up early. My new school times are from 7:50 AM - 3:00 PM. Since it was the summer holidays my parents allowed me to stay up just a bit late but not anymore. I need to be in bed by around 8 now. Most of my friends from Rockbrook will also start school tomorrow. I will miss them a lot and wish them the very best with their new schools. I am sure we will meet over the weekend.

What me worry? No way. New school, new friends, that's exciting for me. I think my parents are going to be a bit emotional, I can sense it. Wonder if there will be any crying tomorrow?

G'night y'all and wish me luck. May the Force be with me!

Aug 15th, 2011  - First, I would like to wish all my family and friends from India a very happy 64th Independence Day. 

My parents have been thinking of taking me to see the Genghis Khan Exhibit which has been at the Irving Arts Center in Irving TX. Irving is the city next to where we live so it was a short drive to get to the Arts Center. On Monday, everyone gets in at Kids prices so we got all tickets for $8 each. The exhibition has a lot of information about Genghis Khan and the dynasty he created. I found out his real name was Temujin and that he called himself Genghis Khan in 1206. He was born in 1162 and dies in 1227.

Inside the exhibit it was quite cold and we had to wear a sweater to go in. They have to keep it cool to protect some of the exhibits which are over 800 years old. We saw clothes, knives, arrows, musical instruments, jewellery and many other things in the exhibit. One of the attendants was nice enough to let me play with a toy catapult and he also put the warrior's armor on me. At the entrance, we were given a card with the name of someone from Genghis Khan's time. The exhibit had kiosks all around and we could find the information about these people. The card I got was called Sabrio.

At the end of the exhibition was my favorite part, the Sandbox. It has brushes, shovels and things from Mongolia. I dug and found a status of a laughing Buddha. I also found a Rakhee too. Guess Genghis Khan had a sister.

Finally I got a Mongolian paper hat. I had a lot of fun today. Last week before school starts.

Aug 13th, 2011  - One of my favorite things to do on the weekends it to got the Lowes Build and Grow events. Lowes has these events every 2-3 weeks and they make some nice wooden things. Its the "Back to School" time of the year and so this weekend, we did a  "Back to School" photp holder. The photo holder is on the shape of a school and it can hold 4 of my pictures. The photo holder looks easy to do but was a bit difficult and it took us a long time to finish. At the end building it, I got to put the stickers on it.

After the project was over the Lowes Helper, Yogi, gave me my certificate and my patch.

School starts in a week.