Thursday, October 7, 2010

Sophie's First Day of Kindergarten

The first day of Kindergarten has come and gone.  Sophie laid out her first-day-of-school clothes the night before, but she accessorized that morning (note the sparkly headband and purple beaded necklace).

Owen kind of thought he was going to the first day of school too.
After we all drove to school together and waved goodbye together and returned home from dropping Sophie off and we'd gotten back into the house, Owen said, "Where's Sophie?"
Sophie was very excited about school and did not seem nervous at all.

Sophie's school has a "kissing lane" where you just drop the kids at the door and they go inside on their own.  You don't even have to get out of the car because they have helpers who open the doors for you!

Sophie's teacher told me that this is the preferred method of drop-off for kids who are driven to school, and I was mentally preparing to do so...(on the first day, for goodness sake?!)...because I am a rule-follower...and a former teacher...and I want everyone (especially the new teacher) to like me.



I consulted other parents, but that got me nowhere.
 Some confirmed that they also use the kissing lane with no difficulty, and what about those bus kids that just have to walk in on their own?
Others felt my pain as they exclaimed, "Send her in...on the first day ever...all alone?!  Well, I'd just walk her in anyway.  They can't tell you not to!"
 So we decided to leave it up to Sophie.  It was HER first day, after all.

So, this little munchkin, when given the choice between going in on her own or having me walk her in...chose to have Daddy walk her in.  Well, we knew that wouldn't work out so well...for either party...so, I took her in...because I am evidently more hard-hearted...and a now-confirmed rule-breaker.

We got final goodbyes in at the car, and then Sophie and I headed in to school.  No one stopped me on the way in.  No one looked at me like, "What are you doing in here?"  And I even saw a few other moms walking in with other Kindergartners.

And then I saw the bus kids traipsing in together and looking as confident as if it were the last day of school, and I felt a little silly about worrying.

But after I tearfully hugged Sophie goodbye and she entered her classroom without looking back, leaving me to cry my whole way back to the car (oh yes, I did!), I decided that she won't always want me to walk her in to school so I'm going to do it as long as she asks me to and I don't care what anyone thinks.  Around day 8, she quit asking...  *sigh*

5 comments:

Indiana Family of Four said...

Awww.. this is one of my favorite blog posts ever. Well, except for the part about Sophie being old enough to go to Kindergarten. I hate that part!

Wendy said...

1) I love Owen's sweatshirt. Has Greg gotten him a drum kit yet?? And where can I get me one of those sweatshirts in adult sizes?

2) Heaven's to Mergatroid, that backpack is as big as Sophie!

3) How's it feel to be bad, Rule-Breaker? Pretty good huh???

4) You wouldn't be a normal parent if you took the first day of school in stride and didn't shed at least a few tears.

Glad to see everyone is doing well.

gianna said...

Oh, Carey!
I know what you are feeling.
I put Maya on the bus, jumped in my car, and followed it for alittle while. Then, I passed it, parked at the school, and met the bus. During the drive to school, I sobbed and sobbed and sobbed! I had to ask a bunch of people if I was waiting in the correct spot of the school bus arrival and it took everything in me not to cry when I asked them that question.
Then, after her bus got there I got to help lead the Kindergarteners into the gym with a daddy who also had a Maya who was a Kindergartner.
Then, I wanted to hug and hug and hug her after her class was lead to their room, but I didn't get to. I walked her to her room, holding her hand thinking, "this is going to be one of the last little girl things I get to do with her!"
Sob!
I totally get it!
You are not alone!
You MAY, however, be the lone rule breaker that I know. he he he

Denise said...

I know EXACTLY how you feel. I still cry on the first day of school. Katie has gotten to that age where hugging Mom and saying I love you, isn't quite as "cool". She'll still let me walk her in to school, but I can only go as far as the second set of entrance doors. And I think next year, I'm going to have let her take the bus. They grow up so fast! Tell Miss Sophie that she looked awesome in her first day of school clothes and that her backpack totally rocks! Gotta love anything Tinkerbell. :-)

Suzanne said...

Such a sweet post!