Today was the day. Today my baby girl started her first day
of school. She has so many years ahead of her and so many new experiences to
look forward to. It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be letting her little
hand go, although a huge part of me wanted to hold it forever. She left Baby
and Babbette behind (I know, right?), didn’t shed one tear and gave an *I’m
really excited to start school see ya later kind of bye to her Dad and me. She
is growing up before our very eyes and it was apparently so today. Two and a
half hours. That’s what I keep telling myself. In two and a half hours I will
hear all about her first day of school.
Let me back up to yesterday because yesterday is certainly
worth noting. Yesterday was kindergarten orientation. We met her teacher and
some of the other parents and students while figuring our way about the classroom
and school. After a little while we all met outside to where a bus would take
our children for a quick ride around the block so they could get used to riding
on it. While waiting for the bus to arrive, we saw a little kid running really
fast and really far away from his Mom. Before we knew it, he was all the way in
a baseball field. I call him the “I’m
out of here kid.” He obviously wanted nothing to do with a bus or school or any
other kids.
Then there was the sad kid. I actually thought there would
be a lot more upset and crying kindergartners than there were. As soon as all
the kids were on the bus and the bus driver was about to shut the door, here
comes the sad kid, tears streaming down his face, snot bubbles escaping from
his nose at lightning speed. The poor kid was a mess. I wanted to hug him and
wipe those snot boogies away and tell him that it might seem bad now, but it
won’t always feel this way. We saw that same kid today outside of the
kindergarten drop off hysterical again. Nina looked up at me and asked me why
he was crying. I was afraid to tell her that he was scared and didn’t want to
leave his Mommy because I thought she would take a cue from him and react in
the same way. I decided to take the risk. I told her exactly that… that he was
afraid. I told her she should go introduce herself and I could tell she wanted
to because I could tell she didn’t want to see him cry. But Nina is a shy young
lady (young lady?!) at first. She could not WAIT to get in that building. It
filled my heart with such happiness to see how excited she was to start this
new journey.
While walking back to my car, we saw the “I’m out of here
kid” laying down in the middle of the parking lot throwing a fit. Richie and I
just laughed. I feel like thanking the “I’m out of here kid” for making this
experience a little less hard. Maybe I’ll thank his Mom tomorrow for raising
such an entertaining child. Haha.
I Joined the PTO, signed up as a volunteer for sporting events
and holiday parties and all that jazz. I’m ready! Let’s make some cupcakes and
brownies and have sleepovers and drive the carpool (the carpool thing may be
taking it a little too far…) and live to make our children happy. If we do
that, we’ve done alright.
