Thanks for bearing with the site issues yesterday. Turns out my hosting company was hacked. I had a post ready to go, however I might hold onto it for later as today I wanted to share something else.
Today was my daughters first day of Junior Kindergarten and all I have to wonder is when on earth did she grow up!?!
It’s no secret that my daughter has been looking forward to starting school for months. She talked about it all summer and began picking out her wardrobe weeks ago. Since she is the youngest child, I knew she would have no trouble going to school – she looks up to her big brother and wants to do everything he does so today was a very exciting day. I was prepared for that.
What I wasn’t prepared for was watching this little lady walk away from me with such confidence. *btw, I may be crying a little while I write this! LOL*
This morning I awoke to my daughter climbing into my bed asking if it was time to go. After a few minutes of snuggling and discussing our schedule for the morning, we went downstairs and I made the kids breakfast. Then we continued with our regular routine, kids got dressed, I did Sophie’s hair, helped them pack their bags and then it was time to go. Now, my son already takes the bus and my daughter will be joining him this afternoon for her first time, but I thought it would be nice to drive her for her first day.
When we arrived at school, she was skipping down the sidewalk to the yard with a huge smile on her face. Then we reached the entry into the yard, where parents are not allowed to cross into. At first I thought maybe the JK parents were going to be allowed to go in (I noticed some had snuck in) but the principal was standing guard and asked that we say goodbye at this point.
He got down to Sophie’s eye level and introduced himself. He shook her hand and then commented that he loved her Minnie Mouse jacket (smart man! knows the way to a woman’s heart is to compliment her clothing). haha! Then he asked who her teacher was and before I could say a word, Sophie piped up with her teachers name. Then he held out his hand and off they went to find the teacher so she could line up with her classmates. She didn’t even turn around to say goodbye. Off she went, looking incredibly confident as she grew up right in front of my eyes.
I stood at the fence and watched as she talked to her teacher and then as the bell rang, she lined up with the other kids. As her class is a JK/SK split, some of the kids are already pros so she just followed along to what they did. She looked so small compared to them!!!
Then as they stood waiting, for a quick moment I saw a little bit of panic reach her face and I could tell her eyes were seconds away from welling up with tears. I think this was the moment she realized she hadn’t said goodbye. I waved my hand and she spotted me at the fence, then she smiled and was happy again. The kids then walked single file into the school and my baby was gone for her first day of school.
I was a mess all day. The house was too quiet, and I kept stopping to think what she might be doing at that moment. To make matters worse, the bus home was 20 minutes late!! I was just beginning to panic and was on hold with the bus company when they finally showed up. The moment I saw her smiling face coming down those steps though, I felt 1000 times better, knowing instantly that my not-so-little girl had a wonderful day.
Perhaps I wasn’t quite ready but she certainly was. I’m so proud of her.
xo J
Finding Momtopia 