First Day of School - Kindergarten Tears

Well today was the first day of school for Nate & kindergarten orientation for Abbie. So that meant it was time for our annual first day of school picture in front of the tree. They were so squirrel-y it was hard to get a good picture - but at least they were excited - right?!

Nate was excited for school he was ready to burst!
Nate - got up early & was very excited to go! He's a great big 2nd grader now. We've heard really great things about his teacher - I was very happy he's in the class he got. He was a little sad that his best friend since Kindergarten wasn't going to be in his class this year, we told him that he would still see her at recess and lunch & could still be friends but this would give him a chance to make more friends. He seemed to be ok with that until I told him I'd be driving him to his first day of school - he wanted to ride the bus, but after the bus blew by the bus stop he was glad I was going to take him - otherwise how would he get there.

Kindergarten here I come!
Abbie - waking up early is still a little tough for her, but we've been getting the kids to be early and practicing getting up & getting ready all this week - the couple days of practice really helped Abbie. She didn't wake right up but she did great at getting up & getting ready (hopefully this will just get easier & easier). We went to kindergarten orientation after dropping Nate off at his class. Abbie went to class & worked on a project while I went to the library with the other parents to get the "welcome to school" talk, then while the kids went to recess the parents all went to their child's kindergarten class to get the "this is how I do things in my class" talk from the teacher. Then the children joined us for a special story about going to school (The Kissing Hand - which we love & I highly recommend - Nate still uses the kissing hand when he's anxious about something). Abbie came in from recess happy as could be - smiled & waved to me & sat down just like she was supposed to - then all the sudden there were tears streaming down her little cheeks. I couldn't figure out what happened to make her cry - soon she dried her tears and all was well. Later the teacher asked her why she was sad & asked if she worried about school after a quiet minute Abbie replied no she wasn't nervous or worried about school but that someone had stepped on her fingers when she was sitting for the story. I was relieved to know that is why she had been crying - not about school, but that she had gotten hurt (not that I wanted her hurt but it's much easier to deal with a boo boo than a fear of school). When it was time to go we had our second bout of tears when Abbie found out that she didn't get to stay & ride the bus home with Nate, that she would have to wait until tomorrow for that. She tried to talk me into getting Nate & bringing him home with us. She was very upset that Nate got to stay at school & that she didn't. She finally conceded and came home with me as long as I would promise that she could ride the bus to & from school tomorrow & that she could stay all day - an easy promise for me to make and keep!

I am grateful for my wonderful children who love school. I am also grateful that I'm going to get some special 1 on 1 time with my sweet Kassie girl - something I've not yet really gotten to do (I've had this at some level with both Nate & Abbie). YEA for routines - we function so much better with them! Here's hoping that the rest of the school year goes as well as today did!