The First Day

We made it! Sam had a wonderful first day of Kindergarten. She rose bright and early (6 am), and came into our bedroom, fully dressed and raring to go. It broke her heart when I told her she had 2 more hours to wait. I was able to hold it together, not cry, even when she put on her backpack, which is almost as big as she is.

This was a day I'd been looking forward to and dreading all summer long: my baby's first day of school. I've been a muddled mixture of anticipation for all she will learn and discover this year, both from her teacher and the interesting world of classroom dynamics between kids. Since this is Kindergarten I certainly don't expect the full-on "mean girl" scenes to manifest, but even in preschool I was often surprised at the alternating degrees of group love and outright hostility between kids. I haven't talked about it before, but Sam has had her own emotional difficulties the past year. We've been working hard to help her through that at home, in the classroom, and even in therapy. She is doing great with it.

She is certainly eager to learn, and filled with excitement for making new friends. But of course, the number one thing she has been waiting for, wanting desperately, begging me to let her go on for over a year was...the bus.

 

 I was able to get her to turn around right before she stepped on.

 But once she was on, she was no longer looking at me or for me, 

she was only looking ahead to what was to come.

And really, isn't that what we're here to help them do?

Happy "First Day" to all you Moms and Dads out there!

CGM