First Day of School

This morning went very smoothly. Aidan woke up, got dressed and we were soon on our way to the first day of school. He was not happy about having to tuck his shirt in, but got over it very quickly when he found out that he got to wear his new shoes to school today.

The drive to school was very uneventful, but beautiful. When Paul and I got married almost 11 years ago, someone told me to take the time throughout the day to remember the little moments. That was such great advice and I've tried to do that with so many things in my life. As I drove Aidan to school I remided myself to take everything in. It was very foggy and the moon was still high in the sky trying to shine through, giving everything a frosty glow. Aidan was listening to "Land Before Time" so the music in the car was as dramatic as the sights.

By looking at Aidan, you would have never known he was nervous. I should have known something was up, though, when he refused to eat breakfast. (He gets that nervous stomach from me!) As we got closer to the school, we got stuck by a train. Aidan got a little frantic, insisting that school would be over by the time we got there. Mind you, we were only about 3 minutes away from the school at this point. Once I reassured him that mommy would never make him late for his first day of school, he seemed to recover quickly. We had to park a block away from the school and as we were walking up, Aidan sqeezed my hand and said, "mommy, I'm going to miss you." At that point, I wanted to turn around, buckle him safely back into the car and ride off into the rising sun....but thought better of it. Instead, I put on my bravest face and said, "You're going to have so much fun and the day will go by so fast, you won't have time to miss me." As we made it to the school grounds, the older kids were in "the pen," which is the gated area next to the school that the kids so eloquently named. Aidan's eyes got bigger as we got closer and I noticed his grip once again tightening. He looked up at me and said, "Do we have to go in THERE?" I assured him that we would not be going in there, proceeded to march right past the bigger kids, walked right through the front doors of his school and right into his classroom. Once inside his classroom, he let go of my hand and took control. He went right to his hook and hung his bag up, put his nametag on, and sat on the appropriate square on the rug. He was all smiles from that point forward.

In the meantime, I had taken control of my own destiny. I knew that I was not going to want to leave at 8:00 when the bell rang as we had been instructed to do the night before. So, I signed up to volunteer at the school from 8a.m. until 11a.m. This was the best move that I made and highly recommend it. I didn't feel like I was being shoved out the door right when the bell rang, for my child to fend for himself. I simply waved goodbye and walked down the hall to volunteer my time. I met two other moms who had the same idea that I did. While we were working in the lunchroom, the kindergarten class went on a tour of the school and Aidan's face lit up when he saw that I was still at the school. After my volunteer session, I marched right into the principal's office and spoke with her about creating a kindergarten directory. I thought it would be a great way to gain a sense of community within Aidan's class....afterall, we are going to be with most of these families for at least the next 9 years.

When 12:00 rolled around, I found myself lined up outside with the other parents waiting for the bell to ring. Aidan came strolling out as cool as a cucumber. We walked across the street with a classmate and her mom to check out the latch key center. The kids immediately took toys off of the shelf and started playing. They didn't want to leave. Aidan and I ended up going to lunch with this classmate and her mom, as well. It was the perfect ending to a perfect day.

I couldn't have asked for a better first day of school!! Aidan has already asked when he could go back to his new school!

Oh, by the way....I've now had the chance to go through the dreaded blue folder filled with papers. I've sorted them into two piles.....a reference pile and a "needs to be completed and returned to school" file. I've also created a calendar list with due dates and important happenings and feel completely at peace with my new role as a kindergarten mom. Isn't it amazing what a little organization can do? My mom says I have control issues. Call it what you want, but I am a much happier person when I have a LIST!!!! List....er, I mean, Life is definitely good!!