First Day of Kindergarten

Addie is a big school girl now!  She had her first day of Kindergarten yesterday, and was pretty excited about it.  Of course, I had to take many pictures.  And of course, Jack wanted to be in them, too. 

We have a smaller backpack that we purchased for her awhile ago, but then we got an "items for school" list from her teacher.  The only item on that list was a regular sized backpack, so we went shopping again.  This is the one she wanted so much that she hugged it in the store.  Then she wanted to wear around in the store and put all the other items we shopped for in it.  It works and she loves it (and so do I, thank goodness), but it may be a long time before she really grows into it.

She really wanted to ride her bike to school, so she practiced using the bike lock all morning (she has afternoon class).  After waiting for a few hours, which translates to eighty-ninety hours in Addie Time, it was finally time to go.  She put her lock in the basket, geared up with her helmet and sunglasses, and was on her way to school.  Or a mountain biking trip. Apparently you prepare the same way for either one.

The whole family walked with her to school, which seemed to be the trend for every other child, too.  It was so packed outside the kindergarten doors!  There were strollers, crying parents, cameras, and dazed 5 year-olds in large backpacks wandering everywhere.  It was hilarious watching them try to get in a line so they could go into the school.  I felt a lot of gratitude and admiration for the kindergarten teachers at that moment.

I did not cry.  I didn't even cry on the way home, nor did I cry at home.  I started to wonder if there was something wrong with me, but every time I thought of sweet little Addie Pants at school I just grinned.  I knew she was having a good adventure, and I knew she was ready for it in every way.  And I knew she'd be back in two hours and forty minutes.

Two hours and forty minutes later, we all went to pick her up.  Again, it was chaotic!  I sent Jason up by the doors to see if he could get close enough to let her teacher know we were here for Addie (they don't let them leave until a parent is there, which is smart).  Exhausted but smiling kids came out of there, looking for familiar knee caps in the sea of adults and strollers.  Finally, I saw Jason lean over and pick one of the smallest kids out from a group of kindergartners: our little Addie.  She already had that weird sweaty school kid smell that all kids come home with, making her an official grade schooler.

We unlocked her bike and went home.  She showed us the gold star sticker that she had earned (she's pointing to it in the above photo), but she couldn't remember why she earned it.  "I must have been a good listener or something, " she tells us... too bad she wasn't listening when her teacher told her why she got a star.  She told us about the books they had read, the class rules she learned, how to raise your hand and cross your fingers when you need to use the bathroom, how she loved recess, and how she missed us so, so much.  (Hey!  The tears are starting to come right now!  I am a normal and loving mom!)

She whipped all her papers out of her backpack (and if that's how many she'll bring home everyday, both us and the environment are in trouble), and showed us all the s's and 4's she had written, and a picture she drew of herself.

Then she had a snack and played legos.  Some things haven't changed, thank goodness.

When I tucked her in bed last night after her eventful day she asked, "Mom, are you so proud of me for going to my first day of school?"  "You bet I am, " I said.  "Mom, I'm so proud of me, too!"   It was a fantastic first day, indeed!