Well, the much anticipated first day of Kindergarten went off without a hitch! As soon as the alarm buzzed, I scooted down the hall to the PCP’s room, turned on the light and whispered for him to start waking up. Not two seconds later he’s bounding down the hall and excitedly proclaiming “I didn’t sleep at all. I’m so excited. I just laid awake waiting for the first day of school!!!” Good heavens! (I spent the day envisioning him falling slap asleep on his desk while the teacher wondered who on earth his irresponsible parents must be.)
He dressed, washed his face, brushed his teeth and hair and made his bed in record time and we headed downstairs for breakfast. Honey dazzled us with his pancake making prowess, flipping J-O-H-N flapjacks onto the PCP’s plate. That PLUS a magic straw that made regular milk turn chocolate milk and our little student was smiles all around!
Afterwards, we headed out to wait on the bus (that the PCP insisted he must ride on the first day, in spite of the fact that I felt it was my hard earned right to drive my first born safely to the school on the first day) and managed to get in a few swings of the baseball bat before we saw big yellow making it’s way around the corner.
The bus stopped and John, oblivious to my tearful wave and “I love you”, hopped right on and didn’t look back. My heart was actually hurting at this point.
So I did what any crazy first time mom of a kindergartner does. Why, I followed the bus to school, of course. And I was able to help him find his classroom, unpack his bag into his cubbie and plant one more kiss on those sweet lips. I’m SO glad I did that. While it didn’t alleviate the fear of him sleeping through school, it did alleviate the nightmare of him wandering the halls by himself unable to locate his classroom. Behold a face of pure bliss…
Before we knew it, it was lunch time, nap time and then time for the big yellow bus to round the corner again!!! Hooray! Cookie helped me set up a first day of kindergarten snack on the back deck but, bless his heart, fell asleep before the party even started.
I repurposed the banner from our neighborhood ice cream social as a backdrop for the little snack.
As we snacked on cupcakes and guzzled lemonade, I gobbled up every word (like his daddy they were few and far between) of his recount of his first day of school. His favorite thing was playing outside. He made a new friend named E, who he quickly clarified “is a boy” (as if I ever expected he’d deigned to play with girls.) Mrs. B was “reeeeealy” nice. And he “reeeeeeeeeeeeeeealy” wants to go back tomorrow. Yippee!!!!
It was a day of new beginnings for all of us. Honey waking up before the rooster crows. Cookie missing his “brober”. Me without my shopping buddy, lunch companion and best friend of the last five and a half years. And, most importantly, a new beginning for John; The smartest, kindest, funniest kid I know embracing a new experience. I am SO wholly and unabashedly proud of my baby for bravely and happily heading off to school for the first time on his very own. And we’re ALL eager to do it again tomorrow.
Sweet dreams are in order around here tonight!
xoxo
Tickled pink to have been featured at Kreative Korner!
