First Day of Kindergarten

Today was Alexander's first day of kindergarten -- A much anticipated day for him and uncertain one for me. Last night, for Family Home Evening, Joshua gave each of the kids a father's blessing, a tradition we carry out before each school year. That night, I groggily woke up to a faint crying from Alex's bedroom. I stumbled down the hall to his room and soon realized Alex had thrown up all over his bed. As I was cleaning him up, my first thought was that he'd miss his first day of school. I was surprisingly disappointed, mostly because I knew he had been anxiously awaiting his first day of kindergarten. But after realizing he wasn't feverish, I quickly changed his sheets, placed a trusty pail next to his bed in the chance it could happen again, and tucked him in bed. The next morning, I woke to the unsettling sound of the alarm clock. It was 6:30 a.m. and I hadn't gotten up this early since the end of the last school year. It took a few minutes to adjust but I got myself ready and read scriptures with Spencer, Jessica and Joshua. Afterwards, I woke Alex and asked if he was well enough to go to school. He eagerly jumped out of bed and announced he was feeling tons better and wanted to go!

Each of the kids had a hand in planning our "First Day of School Breakfast". I asked them to choose one item they wanted most for breakfast. Spencer chose fried eggs, Alex wanted sausage and Jessica wished for bacon. They enjoy helping me plan meals.

During breakfast, I told Jessica that I would really appreciate it if she would sit by and look after Alex on the school bus for the first several weeks of school. At first, she reluctantly agreed but told me she'd rather sit by her friends. After explaining to her how important it was to me and that I'd rather be the one sitting with him on the bus but couldn't, she gladly consented to help. By then, she could see how much I needed her help, and I'm sure she agreed mostly to help me feel better about letting Alex go.

After the kids boarded the bus and after calming Logan's desperate cries from not being able to get on too, I jumped in the car and followed the bus to the school. I wasn't the only Mom trailing the school bus. I jumped in line behind 3 other cars who were shadowing the bus. Before long, there were several others joining us on the bus route.

After arriving at the school, I quickly parked, jumped out of the car and scurried to get a picture of Alex steping off the bus. Spencer and Jessica already knew where to go so we said goodbye and I walked Alex to his classroom. The kindergarten hallway was jam-packed with parents and kindergarteners. We placed ourselves next to his classroom door and waited for his teacher to invite the children in. I took a few pictures of Alex waiting outside the door. As we waited, I looked around and noticed several children holding onto their parents and crying. These fathers and mothers were reasoning and comforting their scared children and it made me grateful to have a child who wasn't feeling that kind of anxiety. I was glad he was excited and happy to be there. His teacher opened the door, gave the parents a few instructions and told the kids to say good-bye to their mom and dad. I gave Alex a big hug and said a quiet goodbye as I chocked back the tears. I didn't want him to see me feeling sad. I was going to miss having this sweet little guy with me at home. It's always been hard for me to part with my kids and send them off to school. But I am so proud of how brave and eager he was. I hope he continues to feel this way about kindergarten this entire school year.

After Logan and I left the school, I didn't want to go home. I figured I'd probably sit around and sulk. So I decided to get some errands done. Logan was a good boy for me as I ran around town, going here and there. We got home a few hours before the bus was scheduled to arrive at the cul-de-sac.