First Week of School

School is back in session, and this time both of kids headed out the door to their first day of school. It was Katie's first day of school ever, and she could not have been more excited. She spent quite a bit of time playing, this summer, with the kids who would be in her class this fall. As we dropped her off the first morning, she greeted her friends, lined up with all of the other pre-shoolers and disappeared into the building holding her teacher's hand. It's a good thing she didn't look back. She would have seen me sobbing. (I cried on Joshua's first day of Pre-K, too.) It's such an important milestone, a day for which we have prepared so carefully. Some milestones mean even more when they are Katie's first steps out into the world. She was so sick for so long--and she has a ways to go yet--but she ventured out into the world so bravely and with such confidence that it was just stunning.

The rest of the day went just as smoothly for Katie, but she has developed a cold. She had a terrible night's sleep Monday night and woke up crying, "Don't make me leave my classroom." She was afraid that she would not be allowed to go to school with a cold. When I assured that she would be going to school the next day, she fell asleep immediately and slept soundly the rest of the evening.

Other funny stories have since emerged. For instance, she cannot reach the toilet paper while sitting on the potty because she is so small, and she needs help getting off the bus because she is so short. In every other way, though, Katie is a very normal and well adjusted member of her class. She loved being the "Star Helper" and "Line Leader." I was concerned when her teacher, the amazing Mrs. Tarbox, reported that "Katie is a natural leader"--teacher speak for "Your kid is a bossy nightmare"--but Mrs. Tarbox assures me that Katie is consistently well-behaved. She has been singing new songs, and she tells me about story time every day. She had phys. ed. last week. Both art and music start this week. She comes home with lots of pictures, and she practices writing her name on the whiteboard in my classroom every afternoon. (She really likes spending time at Lake Region in the afternoon!) In every way but one, she is a very regular kid who just happens to LOVE going to school. She runs to the playground every morning with the big kids who have "adopted" her--she is well loved and very well looked after by a whole herd of big brothers and sisters--and she has been calling me Mrs. Tarbox. I have been replaced, and it's a little unsettling, but I suppose I should enjoy her enthusiasm for school...

My mom laughed at me this weekend when I told her how easily Katie has adjusted to life at St. Pauls. She was quick to remind me that we had worked very hard preparing Katie for this transition. And she's right. I'm very proud of Katie. She's just growing up so fast...

Another scary thought: Joshua is in SECOND grade. Yikes. He is thriving, too :).