First Day of Kindergarten

Well, it happened. I let her go. After five years of 24 hours per day, it is now time for her to be away from me for 7 hours each day. I had a hard time, but she was beyond thrilled. And after she came home so happy and excited the first day, I decided it wasn't going to be so bad.

Emma has a great teacher, who I can tell is going to take very good care of her. That has made letting her go much easier.

Dan and I got to go in for a few hours on the first day. We got a little tour of the school, we helped her find her locker and desk. We got to watch them play a game, then we all did a little project together. Then it was recess, so the kids ran out to play, and the moms and dads left. She was completely in her element, coloring, cutting and drawing. When it was time for me to go, I told her I was going to leave. She looked at me and said "okay, mommy. I'm going to stay here." Easy as that. And then I went and bawled the whole way out to the car.

Had to get some second day shots, too. She must have had a good experience on the first day, because when Dan woke her up for the second day, she rolled out of bed and asked, in her groggy morning voice, "am I late? cause I don't want to be late."

Here's the baby, waiting at the bus stop with his sis. He loves the bus - goes crazy when he sees it, waving and bouncing.

Emma loves the bus, too. I had such a struggle trying to decide if I wanted her to ride. I kept having visions of her getting off on the wrong stop, or getting on the wrong bus, or getting beat up in the back seat. Lots of times I flat out decided to drive her. But, driving to the school twice a day was going to be a pain, and interrupt naps. So, I talked to the principal and she reassured me that they keep very close track of who is going where. They don't let any kids get on the bus that aren't supposed to (even a friend riding home with a friend) and they take roll on the bus before it leaves. They also label the kindergarteners the first few days. So I decided to go for it. She rode the bus home the first day, and I've put her on it each morning since. And it's been great. In fact, if you ask her, that is her favorite part of the day.

She's adjusted to this full-day thing so well, too. I thought it was going to be hard on her, but she doesn't know that difference, and has done great. She loves eating her lunch at school (they have chocolate milk, yay!). She gets to do projects, read books and play on the playground (something she really could never get enough of). And she comes home as happy and upbeat as ever. Besides falling right to sleep when we put her in bed, she also comes home starving. She ate a whole carton of strawberries, a handful of goldfish, and finally a banana before she felt full yesterday. And still ate her dinner after. Kindergarten must be hard work.

What a big girl. I am so proud of her. She's done so well with such a big change. It's scary, but also a good feeling to know that she is so independent and ready to grow up. I know she's going to do great in school and love learning!