1st Day of School

The summer went by too fast... way too fast.  Before any of us were ready, it was the 1st day of school.  I'd like to pretend that because we survived and thrived in Kindergarten, that the first day of 1st grade was a piece of cake.  But I would be lying.  1st grade.  It just sounds a little too big, a little too real.  It was just a new hallway, with new friends and new teachers.  But I wasn't ready to have a 1st grader.  Because you know what 1st grade leads to?  High school graduation. 

 

I know I know, there are a few years in between.  But that is the tricky part, those years blend together in a rush and are gone in the blink of an eye if you aren't careful.  So in my typical "logical and unemotional" gut reaction, I decided the night before school that we just were not going to go.  See, I am such an amazing grown up. 

 

Unfortunately, I had to squash those feelings.  Because KK was so excited for her first day of 1st grade.  Like she ran out of her room dressed and jumping up and down in joy before her alarm had gone off.  I did manage to corral the girl for a few pictures before walking her into her new room.

 

This last shot was a "please mom stop taking pictures and lets go already"...

Luckily for my heart  (and potentially unstable emotional state) we have a lot of blessings as we start 1st grade off today.  Our best friend from Kindergarten was in our class!  One of the sweetest and kindest friends, yea!

 

And we have an amazing teacher!  She and KK seem to be a great fit together, I think that they will have a fun year!

So this is when I left her... And by leave I mean kicked out as announcements were starting and parents had no choice but to leave.  I was a little worried that she would get a little sad as I left, as the newness was wearing and the reality was sinking in for her.  She sat down and looked around a little lost for a moment as to what to do next.  I saw the boy next to her softly crying and talking with the teacher.  I gave her a hug and told her to look around and make sure that she did some amazing acts of kindness today, that sometimes helping someone else by being a new friend will make you feel better too.  Not an easy feat for KK who is pretty shy when it comes to school and talking with others.  Then I did the brave smile face, hugged her again and walked out the door.  She didn't even watch me go - she was busy talking to the little boy next to her and getting out some crayons to color.

 

It wasn't until I picked her up that she told me more about the little boy next to her.  She said he was crying because he was scared of the new school and didn't know anyone and missed his mom.  I asked her "so what happened to him?" and she just shrugged her shoulders and said "I just asked him what he liked about school and we talked for a little bit about what was fun at school and now we are friends".  She started talking a mile a minute about all the other things that happened that day so I had to ask, "was the little boy okay?" and she just smiled and said "Yea Mom, he had a great day like me".  And that was that.  Thank you Lord for this special little girl! 

 

 

After I returned home from KK's school, it was time to take AJ to his first day of preschool.  This kid is always making me laugh.... for example, the following pictures.  Most would say "Wow, AJ was super excited about his first day of school"... Nope.  Not even close.  This kid was pumped about pictures because he wanted to show off his cool new red shoes that he picked out all by himself.  Seriously... the only reason I got him into class without incident was because he wanted to show off those shoes to "the guys in my class".  This kid is going to be trouble!

 

Yup - he thinks he is a stud. I even had to show him these pictures before we left so he could be sure his Mohawk was spiky enough.  LOL!

 

He did like holding his own sign, just like his big sister did earlier this morning.

 

So as I mentioned, AJ wasn't quite as pumped about school as KK.  I told him that this year he was going to learn letter sounds which will help him learn to read someday.  His response "why can't they just teach me to read already?  What is taking them so long?".  Yup... I feel for his teacher!

 

 

I didn't get any pictures of him in his new room the first day, so here is a few shots from the night before at Meet the Teacher. 

His basket for his bag

Posing by the month of March - his favorite month due to his birthday ha! 

 

When we walked into class, AJ was a little quieter than usual.  Before I could get down and talk to him, another little boy ran up and exclaimed "Your red shoes are soooo COOOL!  I have a Mohawk too, want to be friends and play in the tent?"... and they were off.  I could barely get a wave goodbye much less a hug.  But I left smiling at how sweet they are at that age, best friends within moments over shoes and a hairstyle.  (His teacher did report, as all of his others have in the past, that AJ is the sweetest little boy in class.  Never in trouble, always listening and obeying and being kind.  Love that boy).

 

So with two kids dropped off, baby Kins and I went home to a very quiet house.  Kins looked around as we walked through the house.  When we sat down to play in the playroom, she stretched her neck towards the bedrooms and then looked up at me confused.  That's when I realized what she was thinking, as I was thinking the same thing:  it's too quiet, where did the big kids go, I miss them. 

 

It appears that I will never be that mommy that is jumping for joy on the first day of school, posting pictures of their joy at being home alone for days in a row.  Part of that is attributed to the fact I work part-time, so my time with them seems a little more precious to me.  And having a day where I am home with just one of my babies seemed a little off. 

 

Kins and I had fun, she rarely gets just mommy time.  But I will admit that she (and I) were both pretty excited when it was time to go pick up the big kids.  Kins started clapping in her car seat as we headed home from school that day, just thrilled that there was crazy loud noise all around her again like always.  And me too.

 

Sweet dreams y'all!