I have been thinking about this day, let's face it, wishing for this day for FIVE and a half years. It has finally come, ALL of my children are in school! It is way more bittersweet than I ever expected. We did the whole open house/meet the teachers, the night before school started. Everyone was excited and nervous, but loved their teachers. I was overwhelmed, but feeling confidant that they would all do great!
Ms. Jenny (p-school teacher) and Mr. McCaslin (k-teacher) each gave the girls copies of "The Night Before Kindergarten." We read it twice. :) Everyone was in bed by 8 and sound asleep by 8:30.
6:30 AM, wide awake and ready for school! Outfits were on, and breakfast was being prepared. I rolled out of bed, put my happy face on (those of you who know me well, know this is a HUGE challenge in the morning), and assisted with breakfast duties.
Danielle raring to head to the bus stop.
Brayden, the big, experienced 2nd grader.
Ellie, anxious to get out the door!
All of my babies, putting up with me and all of my pics.
At the bus stop, ready to roll! (Notice we were the first in line, maybe because we got out there 10 mins. early).
My babies boarding the bus for the first time.
In Greenacres, we have a funky system. All the Kindergartners from here and another school go to their own building, the K-center. The little guys ride the bus up to the elementary school, transfer, then ride to their own school.....this never was an issue for Bradyen, but I had some concerns for my girls, who don't always pay close attention to their surroundings. I was the first crazy mom at the bus station at K-center. This is the girls getting off there.
Super excited to start their days!
Mr. McCaslin, corralling all of the troops, they did a good job of waiting in line....this is when I started to lose it....I felt the lip trembling, ball in my throat and the ugly face. I quickly hugged each girl one last time and scurried to the parking lot. This was somewhat unexpected, I had not shed one tear during all the preparations for this day. I did not shed one tear when Brayden went to K, I think in part because he turned 6 the day before K started, he was older, ready and very prepared. Plus, I had two distractions at home to take care of. But the tears started and they didn't stop. I pulled into the coffee shop on the way home, saw an acquaintance and could barely tell her what was going on. I fumbled through my order and continued home, where I had to start work. I sat in my office and cried. I tried to pull myself together, then heard a knock on my door, shoot, it wasn't pretty! I opened the door, and the poor Dad who has been bringing his son to speech for just 3 weeks, looked at me with his mouth hanging open. He said, "Are you ok? Do we need to leave? Can you handle this?" I explained to him what was going on and he was very sympathetic, he has an older daughter too, so he had experienced this. Throughout the session I had sniffles, and I could hear him chuckling at me.
After that session, I had a no show, and then a cancellation. There you go, my morning completely shot. I decided to go for a run to relieve some of this silly stress. When I got home there was a voicemail on my phone. I saw that it had the school number on it and totally panicked. Come to find out, Ellie got a bloody nose at school. The nurse took great care of her and she came home in a totally different outfit. I asked them what the best part of school was.....you ready for it?
"Riding the bus!!!"
Lots of excitement on this first day! Tomorrow, I am sure I will be shoving them out the door! :)
