First Day of School :(

So it is finally here. The day I have been dreading all summer. The first day of school! It is just so hard for me to wrap my brain around the fact that my first born is starting kindergarten. To make it seem worse, my baby is starting preschool the same day. It was quite the emotional day--for me.



I had get up early to get to work. My classroom was still in disarray and I wanted to at least get the rest of my boxes unpacked and things looking presentable. Steve got the girls up and dressed--they picked out their clothes the night before and everything matched. He got them to school early and they had to wait for me to finish up directing parents and students in the right direction. Steve doesn't do so well on fixing their hair, so I had to take care of that at school. So they match, have coiffed hair and were ready to go.



Rylee appeased me a little and started crying on the way to class saying she didn't want to leave. I think it all stemmed from having a little bit of a cold and still recuperating from our weekend at bible camp, but I liked to think that she might miss me a little bit.







So, we finally get Rylee to her classroom--she knows it quite well from taking Kailen to the same preschool class for the past two year. Big Sister Kailen gives her a big hug...







and she heads into class. We find her cubby and she puts her things away.

Rylee started exploring the room and decided the sand box was her first stop.

So as you can see, she got over being upset pretty quickly. I told her we were going to leave to take Kailen to class and she said "Well, I think I am going to stay." It was so sweet.

Off we go to take Kailen to Kindergarten. She had gotten to see her room and meet her teacher--Mrs. Dowd--a week earlier at Kindergarten Orientation. She was such a big girl. Here she is outside the door--ready to go.

She was so cute going in her class and finding her cubby. She went right to circle time and sat down next to her friend, Ella, from preschool.

Mrs. Dowd was handing out their nametags. She was holding them up and showing all the kids to see if they could recognize their name. Kailen was able to identify her name and here she is holding her nametag.

So, knowing that she was in good hands, I finally left--without too much emotion. I am so fortunate to be at the same school with my children. I checked on them several times that morning. They were having a great time.

Well, when they started planning implementing this all-day kindergarten thing last year, I had decided that I was going to opt for the half-day for Kailen and just pick her up at noon. I was not ready for her to be in kindergarten all day and I didn't think she was ready either. Boy, was I wrong. She was the only one in her class that had signed up for half day, so when I went to pick her up she ran up to me saying they were about to go to lunch in the cafeteria. I burst her excited bubble and told her no, that I was taking her home for lunch. She got the most disappointed look on her face. We got into the hall and the tears started. She cried all the way home and for about another 30 minutes once we got home--she wanted to stay!!! I felt horrible. I really didn't know what to do, so I spoke to Mrs. Dowd later that afternoon. She said she had a really good class and that lunch time went well. I had to face the fact that even though I was not ready for Kailen to stay, she was. I didn't want to have the same battle every day, so the next day she stayed all day and loved it.

It has been two weeks now, and both girls are doing great in school. Although Kailen has had a few mornings when she said she only wants to stay half day--oh no, were not going there. She mainly says that because Rylee and Piper are staying home and she thinks she will miss out if she is not home with them. Rylee doesn't like the fact that she only goes to school 2 days a week. She gets upset when it is not one of her school days. She wants to be like big sister and go every day.

Oh--the drama. Stay tuned.