First Day of School
by Ashley Weeks Cart
Sunny’s first day of Kindergarten was last Thursday (I DON’T KNOW HOW EITHER! hashtagonslaughtoftime hashtagcoveredinlies hashtaginaglasscageofemotion). Where on Earth did THIS mohawk baby go? Whew, wow. Sorry for yelling. It’s been an emotional few days. hashtagemotionallyunstablemamabear
We spent the evening prior packing our lunch (a new activity as her preschool provided both breakfast and lunch and sweet lord how I will miss the convenience of that! Who knew spreading peanut butter on a sandwich could add complication to a daily schedule? Now I know.), laying out our outfits, and setting our alarms for an earlier start to the day (the WORST for us night owls).
Thursday morning over breakfast, we surprised her with her own personalized backpack to kick off the start of her schooling adventures (from Garnet Hill, and it matches one of her bed sets because who can get enough of polka dot ponies?!)
We walked the quarter of a mile down our dirt road to the bus stop, happily talking about the day ahead. All was well and I thought that we were all going to make it through the experience tear-fear. I’d been selling my own emotional state pretty hard to friends and colleagues that asked how I was doing, but, I thought, mostly for show as I believed deep-down that I would be more than fine when the moment of her departure for school actually arrived. But then the bus pulled up to her stop, and Sunny panicked and started crying and asking, “Why can’t I just go to my preschool, Mommy? I love my preschool. Please don’t make me go to Kindergarten. I’m scared.”
Somehow the rational grown-up side took over and I remained stoic through the experience. With the help of the adult supervisor on the bus and some coaxing, we managed to get her aboard and on her way to school. But once that bus rounded the corner, oh man, the water works. And then I realized that our camera didn’t have a memory card, so all the images I’d snapped were for naught, and oh the ugly crying.
Courtland, fortunately, was cheery as ever and kept the mood light. She merrily held my hand for the ride in to her school and told me that every thing was okay. (Role reversal, what?!) We were so thrilled (and maybe a wee bit surprised given that she has a flair for the dramatic) that she had no problem adjusting to drop off at preschool solo. And James reminded me that we had plenty of iPhone captures of the experience, and that we had enough images of our children to last 20 lifetimes.
When we picked Sunny up from the bus that afternoon, she was all smiles, although, in typical kid fashion, shared very little about her day. We did bear witness to a reprise of a very silly dance they’d done as a class and we learned that her (new) best friend’s name is Izzy. She even announced that she would like to go to Kindergarten the next day.
Later that evening, we received a surprise phone call from her teacher who just wanted to let us know that Sunny had had an awesome first day of school. She’d heard that Sunny was emotional at the bus, and wanted to assure us that she didn’t see any of those nerves in the classroom. She even claimed that Sunny was the most enthusiastic kid in the class and helped reassure some of the more shy and nervous of her classmates.
If I could have wrapped that woman up in a big old bear hug I would have. The phone call lasted no more than 2 minutes, and yet it provided a level of assurance and comfort for which James and I are beyond grateful.
The next day Sunny eagerly loaded up her backpack and headed off with a smile. I’d say that the school year is off to a great start!