First Day

It was B's first day of kindergarten today!

She was so excited that she walked into the kitchen this morning fully dressed at 5:50 am. That was nothing short of a miracle for the little night owl. I had my doubts about the morning-- the night before the kids had been so hyper that I had given them all melatonin just before bedtime. It worked like a charm; ten minutes after being tucked in I had absolutely silence from the kids' rooms. Amazing! Unfortunately, it didn't last-- B woke up again and cried inconsolably for about 45 minutes. I moved her out to the couch so she wouldn't wake the others and then ended up holding her for awhile until she calmed down. (Not such an easy thing with such a big girl, especially when I have a much smaller lap at this point!) For all that, though, B was up and ready and enthusiastic in the morning. It was so cute!

(J was the complete opposite. It took 30 minutes of poking and prodding and pleading and threatening to get that boy to get out of bed and get dressed.)

Here is B outside the house while we waited for Kristi to come pick up the older kids:

She looks reasonably happy, right?

Once we got the older kids off (Kristi will be driving them the first half of the year so we decided to stick with the normal pattern even on the first day), I loaded up B & K and we made the trek to the school. On the kindergarten playground we found her teacher right away and he had a name tag for B to wear and a name tag for her backpack (smart thinking!) Then she was free to run and play until it was time for school to start. It took her awhile to settle in, but finally she found a free teeter-totter and another girl to try it out with.

This brought a little enthusiasm. Just a little. I think she was super nervous by this point.

See the difference? (Practically looks like a grimace instead of a smile!)

When they blew the whistle we fought our way back through the masses of parents and terrified new kindergartners so she could get in line. I watched her line up, waved over and over, and then she trooped into the building behind her teacher. I was so proud! I didn't even tear up-- but K did it for me. As soon as he saw B disappear into the building, he started to wail, working himself into a full blown crying fit. Poor K. He's so used to having his big sister to play with. Things will be an adjustment for him, I'm sure.

(If you look carefully you can see her right in the middle of the line of kids.)

When B got home today, she was much more relaxed. She seemed to enjoy her first day so all is well! Another one of my kiddos is in school-- what will I do with myself?

No problem there-- in just a few more months I'll have my hands full with a baby again.