For most moms, sending their child off to kindergarten is a very emotional experience. I once spoke at a church on the first day of school. Each of the moms in the room had sent their first, last, or only child off to kindergarten. It didn’t matter what I said that day, most of the moms couldn’t hear me over their own sniffles. I remember sending my son off to kindergarten, I didn’t cry but I did feel a little lost without him around all day.

What I remember most from that day were the things Jordan said and did. Like when he came home from school and told me that he knew the name of one of the boys in his class.

“Really? What’s his name?”

“Maverick.”

“Is Maverick your friend?”

“No,” he said. “I just know his name because the teacher kept saying, ‘Maverick sit down.’ ‘Maverick be quiet.’ ‘Maverick get in line.’”

My other favorite memory from that day was asking Jordan, “Do you want me to come up to school and have lunch with you one day?” This was always a big deal for the other kids in our neighborhood. They loved it when their moms came up for lunch.

For my son? Not so much. ”Maybe you can come up on the last day,” he said.

At the time, I had mixed feelings. On one hand, I was happy he was so confident in his new environment, on the other hand, I was a bit disappointed that he didn’t want me there. We laugh about it now. In hindsight, it’s easy to see that kindergarten was the beginning of his independence.

Which reminds me of that little poem by Robert Fulghum, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarden. So much of what Jordan learned that year was the beginning of what he was yet to learn.

The same was true of my kindergarten experiences. I learned some valuable lessons in kindergarten that weren’t taught anywhere else. For example, when the teacher played a chord on the piano I learned that it’s time to stop talking. These days kids don’t have pianos in the classroom, (which explains why many of them don’t know when to stop talking).

I also learned that when Craig B. played house with the girls during centers that was cool, but when Craig B. stuck his hand down my tights during story time, that wasn’t cool. It seems Craig B. learned a few things in kindergarten, too.

I’m sure you have kindergarten memories of things you or your child learned. But what if kindergarten were more than just a first educational and social experience? What if kindergarten was the only place you got a healthy meal, proper hygiene, and an introduction to faith?

That’s what kindergarten in the Hoang Then village of Vietnam means.  If you haven’t been following what’s happening on Jon Acuff’s blog Stuff Christians Like, you need to check it out. (You can get some background on the project quickly by reading an interview with Jon here.)

At Jon’s blog you can begin reading the posts in chronological order, (skip down to November 9, that’s the day this all started with the first post  here. Then read backwards in chronological order to find out how much they raised the first day here, and how much they raised in the first 18 hours here, and the announcement of the second kindergarten here. That’s the one we’re currently raising money for.)

This all started when Jon’s kindergarten-aged daughter saw a picture of a starving child in a book and said, “That’s not real is it, Daddy?”  Jon is using his blog community to do what he can to make sure that in the future the answer is “No honey, it’s not.”

Blog readers have been helping out by giving $5 or $10. Jon’s got a crazy contest going on with a cartoon worship leader and each time a new goal is met the worship leader gets new clothes, ’cause frankly the only thing worse than a worship leader in skinny jeans is a naked worship leader.

Go here to donate.

You can leave a comment on the site. I gave in honor of Jon’s wife, Jenny Acuff, who made some really delicious peach cobbler a few months ago and I can still taste it. Maybe Craig B. will donate in atonement for his kindergarten philandering. Perhaps you want to donate in honor of your kindergarten teacher. Because the only thing worse than not having kindergarten memories is not having a kindergarten.

What’s the one kindergarten memory you haven’t forgotten?

~Jennifer