Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Kindergarten! WHAT??

My oldest started Kindergarten this week. I have no idea why they start while it's still so hot here and we could be swimming from dawn till dusk. My friends in New England are wearing jeans and long sleeves and school would be a perfectly comfortable place to be but they don't start until after Labor Day. Anyway...

We did a practice run on Monday. I've never had to get her out of the house so early and she's never in her life been allowed to get out of bed before seven, so we had much to practice! It went flawlessly. She didn't love having to get up, eat and get dressed in quick succession but we made it to the bus before it took the older kids for their first day. Then we came home and had a fun filled day of desert making. Why not? It's still too hot to be outside!

Yesterday was the real deal. We adjusted wake up a bit so we both had time to defog a bit before major decisions had to be made and it went better. I managed to hold myself together as I sent my baby off into the great unknown by herself without a single drop of vodka (for me, not for her). Her dad did too. Until that bus pulled off you'd think we were made of stone. I hope she thought so, at least. I wouldn't want to rain on that glorious, exciting parade. There was no hint of nerves or shyness as she kissed us goodbye ran to the bus and, after one last kiss of daddy's hand, sat down without a glance back. Yes, that's why we practiced!

I fretted all day. We live in the number one school district in the state, her teacher seems wonderful and has years of experience, and it's a school with only K and 1st grades. They know how to manage the little ones, but I worried. Would she be scared? Had she eaten enough breakfast? Would she make it back on the bus after school? Man, I nearly dragged my younger kid over to the school half a dozen times before it was time to back to the bus stop and get her. One might think she was off to boarding school for a year, the way I was acting. In reality, the school is 3 miles from our house, and at 350 in the afternoon, a very happy, very tired 5yo came bounding off the bus into my arms. She chattered about a day that sounded exhausting to me, as she bounded down the street. Where does she get the energy? It's a good thing, I guess. She also started CCD last night, so it was a very big day for her but that's another post.