The Last First Day

 

I will own the fact that I was dreading this year's First Day of School. I knew it would be hard to face the last of my Very First Day of kindergarten. But I had to hide my trepidation and sadness, considering how excited the rest of my kids were. Despite our little hiccup & hospital stay 2 days before school, we plowed forward on Sunday night with father's blessings & preparation for the big day. All 4 kids were so excited, they could barely stand it. Clothes were all laid out, outfits planned, backpacks packed, and breakfast ready for the next morning. And we moved ahead.

 

First day of 7th grade
Sydney declared that she wasn't nervous at all about 7th grade - she just wanted to get to school to see who all was in her classes. Oooohh, I remember that. So fun. So exciting to compare schedules and who got what teacher. No nerves, only irritation with her mommy for wanting to take pictures, and annoyance with her younger siblings for, well, everything - namely, just being younger siblings.

 

First day of 4th grade

 

Austin and his teacher, Mrs. Fronczak

Austin was wayyyy too cool for school - and Mom. The week before school when we went to Meet the Teacher, I had put together little tins of Andes mints for my 3 younger kids' teachers that said, "I'm so glad you are 'mint' to be my teacher this year." (I love me some teacher treats!) Seth & Brooklyn could not wait to give them to their teachers. Austin asked me to carry his in my purse, and when we met his teacher he was SO EMBARASSED to have to hand her a gift!!! SO NOT COOL in 4th grade, I guess. It's funny to me, the difference between girls & boys. Sydney still loves to take treats to her teachers, even in jr high. Austin has CLEARLY outgrown it. Anyway - he was sooooo over the picture taking too. You can tell in these pictures. The smirk is so lovely. I keep reminding them (or lecturing to them) that they will appreciate the timeline of 1st Day pics one day.

 

First day of 2nd Grade

 

Seth and his teacher, Mrs. Ferreiro

Seth insisted that he wanted to go to school the first day, despite being less than 36 hours out of surgery. The doctor had told us in the hospital that he could totally go to school if he was feeling up to it - it just depended on his pain level. He said he was ready, so I took him - figuring he probably wouldn't make it through the day, but at least he would get to do the 1st Day morning excitement. He was adorable. I had to give him the little pep talk to NOT be grumpy with people for continuously asking what happened to his arm. I warned him that lots of people were going to ask, and that he didn't need to tell the whole story - just to tell people that he fell at the park. He told me that he would "just tell the whole story," however I know my boy...I knew he would be so annoyed by the end of the day. About 30 seconds before the bell rang, the nerves took over, and Seth decided school was NOT what he wanted to do that day. But he pushed through, got in line, and headed in with his class.

 

Wellll... He lasted 1 whole hour at school. His teacher called an hour into the day & said Seth's arm was hurting him. So Brooklyn & I went back to the school, scooped him up, and brought him home to rest. Miraculously, he didn't mention his arm hurting once more that entire day - while he chilled on the couch watching TV. Day 2 I had to warn him that he was welcome to come home if his arm was really hurting, but if he did we would have to do lots of reading most of the day since I didn't want him getting behind in his class. He immediately decided he would stay all day. And he did. Seth was excited, but the nerves surfaced right before the bell rang, and he got scared. Seth doesn't have a ton of friends at school, and it makes me so sad for him. He's not the most outgoing kid who will just make friends, so I worry for him... none of the boys he played with most are in his class this year, so I hope he makes some good friends this year.

 

1st Day of Kindergarten

 

Brooklyn and her teacher, Mrs. Silva

Ahhh, the hour I was dreading finally arrived. Time to drop my baby girl off for PM kindergarten. I had tried to prepare myself for the dam that I knew was about to burst... It was the longest morning ever for my girl, who COULD NOT WAIT for 11:45 to roll around. She was ecstatic. Not an ounce of fear or anxiety. I was so glad.

 

Waiting for the gates to open


We arrived at the school, and her teacher gave all the parents a little bag of tissue and poem about leaving their kindergartener. Brooklyn wanted me to read it to her, so I did. That started the waterworks, so I was glad I had on dark sunglasses. The bell rang, and with a hug and kiss, my baby was off. She didn't even look back. I got myself to the car, and, well...it wasn't pretty. In the spirit of full disclosure, I will be honest and admit that I sat in my van for nearly 25 minutes and cried my eyes out. Not only because I had just sent my baby off to kindergarten - but for the incredible sadness that I am feeling about the stage of my life that is over. Sad that there are no more. It's no secret that I would have loved for Brooklyn to not be our baby (Kevin, not so much)... so I am just sad. And I am still sad. 2 weeks into school, and I am still sad about it. I need to pull myself together about this, but sheesh...it's just not happening.

 

Does this look like a successful 1st day of kindergarten or what?

The day ended with reports of a GREAT DAY all around. I love the first day reports, and getting every little detail from my kids - who they sat with at lunch, who all is in their classes, what their teachers are like, what they though was great, what they hated, who the naughty kids are, all of it...I love it. It was hotter than the hinges of hell when we finally made it off the scorching blacktop and back to the car, so we stopped at 7-11 for slurpees all around, and went home to NO HOMEWORK. Nobody had homework on the first day, and THAT was a great gift for Momma.