For the first time in several years, I was anxious about the first day of school. And this time it had nothing to do with me setting up a classroom or preparing lesson plans--I was nervous for my baby boy to head off to elementary school! Ryder has been so excited about starting Kindergarten, but I still felt anxious for him. How will drop-off and pickup go? Will he like his teacher? Will he make friends quickly? Will he speak up for himself if he needs something? And how will lunch go in the BIG cafeteria? Yikes! These thoughts would pop into my head at night when I was trying to fall asleep, and I had to tell myself that everything will be fine and he will adjust quickly to his new normal.
Last night as we talked about what our morning routine would be and what time we would need to leave the house, Ryder announced that he wanted Daddy to take him to school on the first day. Andrew and I looked at each other and agreed that the four of us could go together for drop-off. Then Ryder said, "No, just us boys in the jeep." Oh. I guess I wasn't invited. In my head I had already been picturing where I would park so I could walk him to his classroom and give him a big hug, so I was a little disappointed. But I was also happy that Ryder felt so excited and confident that he didn't need me to be there. So we stuck with Ryder's plan! The boys left the house together at 8am, and Harper and I left shortly after to go meet some other mommy friends for "our first-borns just started kindergarten and we need moral support" brunch. :) Of course I called Andrew once I knew school had started at 8:30, and he told me he walked Ryder to his classroom, they gave each other high-fives, and from the classroom window Andrew watched Ryder hang up his bag and go to his assigned table. Simple as that!
proud kindergartener!
Harper decided she wanted to be in the pictures too...
...but didn't necessarily want to smile!
Harper and I picked Ryder up at 3:15, and he was still smiling! I told him I wanted to hear all about his day and asked if he had a good time. He responded with, "I loved it! I can't wait to go back to Kindergarten tomorrow." Throughout the evening he filled us all in on details of his day: what he ate for lunch (because he insisted on buying lunch and using his newly memorized pin number in the cafeteria), the exercises he did in P.E., classmates who didn't raise their hands when they had a question, and that one of the classroom rules is 'be respectful'. I am thrilled that he had such a good time and proud of him for being so brave as he begins this new adventure!
showing off his hat he made at school today
And the homework begins!
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