First Day of Kindergarten

Wow, I can't believe the first day of school is over! Allie woke that morning with a huge smile on her face. She quickly dressed in her favorite pink color and requested pancakes for breakfast. She ate a few but I think she was too excited to eat. I wanted to have plenty of time to savor the morning so by 7:15 am we were ready to go. We took a few pictures and then headed out the door. Justin decided to come along with us. We got to South Bosque, parked, and started walking toward the school (I videoed her every step). Once inside, we had to wait in the lunchroom until they dismissed the students to the rooms (pretty dumb on the first day of school I think). Walking to her room I started getting really nervous/anxious/excited for her. She couldn't wait to get there. She hesitated for just a short moment then walked into the room followed by mom and dad. She said hello to her teacher, Mrs. Czimskey, and then found her seat. When there was a break in kids coming in, I sent Allie to her teacher to get a picture. She also gave her teacher the book we bought her, Mrs. Bindergarten Tales. I made her go to the restroom before we left (I wanted to make sure she knew where it was). As she sat down at her table she stared looking around. I think it just hit her that she didn't know anybody. She looked up at me, grabbed my hand, and said, "Don't leave." I knelt down and gave her a kissing hand and she gave one to me. We waved goodbye and walked out the door. We made a beeline to the front door and to the car. It was quite sad without her. I knew that I had several friends who have gone through this that were praying for me so that's how we were able to leave her and drive off school property. Justin took me to breakfast but I wasn't really hungry. On the way to the grocery store the tears began to fall. Allie always goes with me to the grocery store. We stop by chef David's to see what he is cooking and taste all the samples. This time, I was all alone. I began to put food into the cart but decided to head over to the toys just because. I ran into another mom who had just dropped off a Kindergartener and we laughed that we met on the toy aisle. It was nice to talk about how kids, the difficulty of leaving them and things we would change about the school. We talked for about 1 1/2 hours just standing there in the aisle slowly moving our cart forward and back for other people to see the toys we were blocking. It just felt theraputic to discuss our circumstances and for a short time, we weren't dwelling on the reality. I rushed home to put my defrosted food in the freezer. I ate lunch, picked up and then around 1:30 I began pacing the house. I made a poster for Allie on her favorite pink color and hung it on the front door. Then I made some cupcakes for snack. I set the table with cupcakes, icing, and all types of sprinkles for her to choose from. It was only 2:40 now. I picked out a movie for her to watch knowing that she would be tired. I made a pallet on the floor with her down comforter and pillows. 2:51 p.m. I didn't know what else to do. Thankfully Kristina (neighbor down the street with a Kindergartener) called and asked what I was doing because she couldn't concentrate on anything. Feeling her pain, I packed up some cupcakes and icing and headed to her house. We prayed for our girls when it was time for them to board the bus. The arrival time was suppose to be 3:41 pm but we knew this first day it would be behind. Still, in 104 degree heat, armed with camera and video camera we couldn't wait any longer. At 3:30 pm we headed to the corner of the street, the bus stop. Another mom was already there waiting. Finally around 3:56 p.m. we saw it. I can't believe it but I think I heard all of us scream. As we ran to the other side of the street I videoed the bus coming down. The doors opened and 3 older kids got off, silence and a long pause. I was headed to the steps to climb aboard when I saw Erika headed down. I immediately began snapping pictures and holding the video camera at the same time. I didn't even bother to say hello to her; just kept filming and snapping. When I felt I had enough, I grabbed her up and squeezed her to death. She was so quiet and tired. I couldn't wait to grill her but she wasn't in the mood to talk just then. We shared cupcakes, milk, and M & M's, cuddled on the pallet and watched Curious George. Slowly she began to share more but this first day wore her out! It was a great learning experience for us both. We have begun a new season in our lives (Justin admitted that actually none of this affected him since he is at work all day) and are thankful that God is leading us through it. The paths He has for us are numerous and I'm slowly taking steps to see where they lead.

ready to go although her face doesn't show it

walking to the car

the backpack: Allie had talked all summer about what type of bookbag she wanted. It had to be darker pink and have all the princess that she wanted on it. It was difficult to find because most bookbags that we found only had 3 or 4 of the princesses. We went to Academy to look but didn't find the one she wanted but did find a lunchbox. As we were in line to check out I looked on the wall at the front of the store where they had more bookbags hanging up. All of a sudden, my eyes were drawn to a bookbag at the very top. There it was! A bookbag with all the princesses that she wanted on it and it looked like the gaudiest bookbag I had ever seen. I knew that it wouldn't be long before she noticed it but I wasn't going to say anything. Then I heard a gasp and she turned around and smiled. I knew she had spotted it. I finished paying and then we headed to the wall. I couldn't get anyone to come over so I grabbed a bookbag, climbed on the first shelf and knocked it down. It was love at first sight for her and I knew I had to let go of my idea of her having a bookbag that I was thinking of and let her enjoy this one. I still think this thing is tacky with all the roses on it but she loves it!

I missed her walking in the door so I made her go back and stand in front of it.

Allie and Mrs. Czimskey

this is blurry but i love the expression on her face when she found her name!

playing at her table

allie's poster read: happy 1st day of Kindergarten Allie!

getting off the bus

i think the bus was hot

allie and erika

I'm so glad the first day is over!! I can't wait until next summer!