First Day of School 2015

We all knew it was coming.  Some days I dreaded its arrival.  Some days I couldn't wait for it to get here already!  Arden didn't want it to come.  Cora could not stand the wait.  Dax waffled.  No matter what any of us thought, it came.  It came just the same.

The first day of school.

And not just any first day of school.  The first day of school for my LAST first grader.  The first day of having all the kids gone all day.

My last first grader was BEYOND excited that the big day was finally here.  She had been asking me, "Mooom, how many more days until school starts??" at least once a day for the past 37 days at least.  Cora was all ready to go with her brand new puppy lunch box, and was super excited to have her very first first-grader lunch at school, like a big kid.  She also could not WAIT for her threeeeee recesses!  (I tried to remind her that there might actually be some reading and writing in there somewhere).  

Here she is, my big (**sniff**) first (**whimper**) graaaaader!

 Dax, while not quite as excited for school to start as Cora, is still ready to smile on the first day. (He also felt compelled to hold up his lunch box, even though it isn't new.).  What a handsome second grader he is!

And, can you believe Arden is in the FOURTH GRADE?!?  Insanity.  How did she get so big and so beautiful?  She found out her bestest friend A is in her class, so she got a little more excited about school and put on a smile as well:

 All together now!

 Aw, they are so cute!  I miss them already!

 After they got their pictures taken, I drove them down to school and took them each to their classes.  Arden teared up a little as I dropped her off in her new classroom, but she smiled and waved too.  She is a wily old veteran and I knew she would be okay.

Dax was completely fine, and sat right down by a friend from his first grade class.  I think he is going to do great this year.  He gave me a hug, and seemed perfectly fine, so I waved to my boy and headed out the door and down the hall to the first grade classrooms.

Cora waltzed right into the room, not phased one little bit.  She spotted one of her good buddies from the neighborhood and her ex-boyfriend (who she is still friends with, of course) and sat right down between them.  She started chatting, her eyes sparkling.  She didn't seem to be nervous or apprehensive at all, so I gave her a quick hug and made my exit.  Cora barely looked up as I left, and I was so thankful she was so comfortable, because I was sort of kind of teetering on the edge of hysteria.

My world was different.  Now that the kids were going to be at school all day, I had decided to go into the office four days a week, and work about 25 hours a week.  So, my stay-at-home-with-babies days were now officially behind me. Well, almost.  The first day of school was early out, so I worked from home that day.  The house had never felt so empty and quiet as it did when I walked back through that door all alone after dropping off the kids.  A part of me wanted to jump up and down and throw myself a party to celebrate the fact that I had survived the summer without letting the kids actually kill or maim each other (which was a close call a few times).  However, another part of me wanted to sit down on the floor and howl.  Because they were gone, off growing up without me.  Because they are not babies or toddlers or even kindergartners anymore.  Because the part of my life where my kids were tiny and sweet and needed me to be with them all day was gone forever.

I was glad Olive was there to greet me at the door.  Instead of partying or howling I just patted her on the head, grabbed myself a Diet Coke and sat down at my computer to catch up on some long-neglected work. Olive curled up at my feet and kept me company, and before long it was time to go pick the kids up.  They all had a great first day and they all really like their teachers.

It has been three or so weeks since school started now.  The kids are all enjoying it (except for the homework), and are making new friends and keeping the old too.  I am starting to adjust to being in the world of adults again, at least for part of most days.  Dax is playing flag football, Cora is doing soccer, Arden is still doing gymnastics, and with art and activity days and my calling in young womens, we are all keeping pretty busy after school.

I will admit that homework sessions and busy mornings are a bit of an adjustment from our carefree summer schedule, but we are all learning and figuring out our new normal.  Things are going pretty well.

And summer will be back again someday.