First Day of School

Chloe was all ready for school. She had got her new haircut on Saturday:

She had her new backpack filled with school supplies and decorated by me (with input from her):

Sunday we had a "Going to School" party. She helped me bake a cake, we all watched a movie in the afternoon, ate a very yummy supper with a decorated school cake for dessert, packed up all the school supplies, laid out clothes for the morning, played a short game of dominoes, and read "The Kissing Hand" before going to bed.

This morning we got up super early because Chloe isn't much of a morning person and doesn't move very fast. I had made pancakes the day before. So we were able to enjoy a big, special breakfast of pancakes (cut into fun shapes of course), bacon, and canteloupe. The ILS are the initials for her school.

Here's where we got a bit skimpy on pictures because we were starting to run a little late. All dressed and ready:

Here's our very poor "in front of school" picture. The sun was so bright I couldn't see anything on the camera. That left me guessing and hoping I had Chloe in the picture.

It was right about this time I finally started crying. I had been doing so well up until this point. I had been excited for Chloe all morning. But very shortly after this picture was taken, a mom came out of the school crying. That got me going right away. Nobody should ever be pregnant when their child is starting school for the first time. I wasn't able to take in much more of the morning because I was too busy fighting back tears.

Luckily Chloe didn't seem to give it much thought. She took everything in stride. The girls sitting at the neighboring desks arrived about the same time Chloe did. I have to wonder if the girls ever said anything to each other because they both seemed just as shy as Chloe. Here is our final picture, Chloe sitting proudly at her desk:

Then we gave hugs and hightailed it out of there before I emptied an entire box of Kleenex that we had just brought to school for the kids. Julia was a little more upset at this point than I was though. She wanted to stay. She just couldn't understand that Chloe gets to stay at school, but she didn't. Poor girl. On the way back to the van I kept hearing "I just want to stay at school for awhile." Yeah, you and me both.

The morning went relatively quickly for me. I cleaned a good part of the house and did some laundry to stay busy. I was constantly thinking I wonder what they're doing now. Julia started out playing independently. I had bought her a new magnetic book about colors. She was having fun putting all the magnetic pieces on the book pages. Then I started hearing those words I knew were coming "I want to play a game". Over and over. Game after game. I need to come up with some good activities for her to do while Chloe is at school.

Kevin, Julia, and I all went to school to pick up Chloe at 11:30 (just as we all dropped her off). We had explained to Julia that she had to be 4 before she could go to school and stay at school. When I told Julia it was time to go to school and get Chloe, she looked at me excitedly and asked "I'm 4 now?!"

Chloe was all smiles when she came out of the classroom, but is still a bit reluctant to tell us much about her day. When I asked her if she had fun, she told me she had fun at the playground. A little later she told me quite excitedly about how the teacher let them drink out of the water fountain. I guess a playground and a water fountain are all it takes to make my daughter happy. Those were the other things she could tell us unprompted. Even prompting her with questions, we're not getting much right now. Maybe after she's gone to school a few more days she'll want to tell us all about it.

Thus begins our new adventure of school. It wasn't bad, all things considered. The morning felt plenty rushed even though I had everything laid out and ready the night before. Hopefully we can all move a little faster with practice. Julia needs exciting activities to keep her occupied during the mornings. Otherwise I think we can handle this okay.