Rockin' the First Day of School

I'm not sure when the first day of school got moved so far into summer, but here it is, August 10, and the kids started school today. Also, somehow, I suddenly lunged forward from being the mother of little bitty people to being the mother of two school-aged children. Heck, even Amelia "graduated" to the Little Two's class--those kidlets are gigantic in there, and she is just wee. Anyway, the night before, we had lunches made, backpacks packed, ridiculously huge amounts of school supplies ready, new clothes arranged neatly for the morning. They were excited. Rebecca was a little anxious about not knowing anyone but reassured by the fact that EVERYONE is new in Kindergarten. None of the other students will have been in that school before either! She was looking forward to riding the bus home in the afternoon. Molly was eager to find out if any of her friends would share her teacher. She relishes being the big sister, able to show Rebecca "how it's done" at this school.



The drop-off was smooth. Both teachers oozed with experience, their calm, gentle words of welcome helping ease the transition.

Molly looked so darn big in a desk all alone (last year, their desks were in pods; in Kindergarten they sat at tables. Second grade is Big.). She waved at old friends and, with remarkable maturity, just sat down and started unpacking her ginormous bag of supplies, a little oblivious that we were even still there. I blew her a kiss from the door, which she returned with her dimpled grin. Can we possibly be old enough to have a second grader?


Rebecca also seemed to ease right in. Her teacher could tell she was a Marsh right off the bat, having met Molly as well as her cousins before that. I think that soothed Rebecca's nerves a little. She began to color her gingerbread picture, posed for pictures, gave us hugs, and started talking to the girl next to her. I was a little teary in the hallway, a lot teary in the car on the way home.




They got off the bus in front of our house, energetic and talkative, both thrilled with how the day had gone. Gonna be a good year!