First Day

She's there! Our morning didn't go exactly as planned, but that's okay. I felt really unprepared as I drove to school this morning and realized that I never really got a "checklist" of things that I was supposed to have. We paid for supplies but I failed to get them when I registered her. Whether that is my fault or someone else's I don't know. I didn't think to ask and since I work there now it was pretty informal when I registered her. Then I realized on the way there that I had not packed her any snacks. Again, no checklist. So lesson learned. Make a list and ask questions!

We stopped on the way to school to get her some snacks, but Walgreen's was closed at 7:55am. Rather than wait the 5 minutes, she decided she'd rather go to school and let me bring her some snacks later. When we got to school, she walked right into the classroom. It was full of parents hovering at the door which left Kyle and I standing in the hallway because we couldn't fit past the adults. Mrs. Feinberg helped her hang up her backpack while Kyle and I headed back to the office to get her supplies. While we were gone she went and sat in her spot (her teacher had them pick spots at the tables on Monday during Meet the Teacher) and started working on her paper. When I brought the supplies back she walked over to me got her crayons and pencil box, gave me a half hug and a smile and then turned and walked right back to her table. I did tear up on the walk down the hallway. Why is it that Kindergarten is harder on the parent than the child?

Fifteen minutes later I stopped back by with her bag of snacks. I was able to get the attention of the assistant teacher so that I didn't have to walk in and interrupt, but Katie did see me from her spot at circle time. She smiled and then turned her head back to her teacher. I remember when she was in a summer program at Epiphany when she was 2 and she would act like she didn't know who I was or who Nana or PopPop was when she'd see us.

When we got to school this morning Kyle really wanted to go with Katie. He insisted that he was 5 years old while we were walking in. He told us that he was going to Kindergarten too. On the way back home, he said, "Katie is supposed to be in her car seat. Where is she?" I told him that she was at school. And he responded with, "I don't want her to to go to school. I want her to come home. I'm mad."

So here are the pictures from home. She picked out her own outfit and has been patiently waiting to wear her new "sparkly heart shirt".





So now Kyle and I are at home. What are we supposed to do? I know we did this last year but I can't remember having him by himself. Actually I didn't - Katie was home on the days that I didn't work. I guess we'll figure it out...

I just went back and looked at last year's "1st day" picture (actually taken at the end of the day which is why she is covered in stickers from my classroom). She has grown so much! If you look at the window pane in this year's photos (above), you can see just how much. Last year: