Friday, September 11, 2009

And she's off!

Today was the day. The highly anticipated day! The day that's been talked about over and over again since she turned five in March. The day of her 5th birthday, she was pretty sure she'd be going to Kindergarten the next day. Well, "the next day" finally arrived!

We started the day off with a special first-day-of-school breakfast. Waffles using Grandpa Bill's recipe and yummy fresh peaches. She woke up to find her chair decorated with balloons and yesterday received a beautiful flower from her cousin Airdrie.



When I was a kid, my dad used to take our picture at the school bus every year for the first day of school. As farm kids, riding the school bus was an expected reality, not a potential possibility! We decided to take the shot in front of the piano to see just how much she grows from September to September.


Then it was off to daycare to drop off Aaron and take part in the main event - lining up for the bus! It was drizzling when we first arrived, and poured rain shortly thereafter, but nothing could dampen her enthusiasm!

And here's the classic child-getting-on-the-schoolbus shot. Except that's Meredith's buddy Jenna, not Meredith! You can just catch a glimpse of the end of her backpack as she scoots onto the bus at top speed without so much as a backward glance, or a wave to the paparazzi!



The bus beat me to the school, and the kids were already sitting in a tidy little group in the gymnasium with their teacher by the time I arrived to peek. Class by class these groups of elementary school children followed their teachers from the gym to their classrooms. It was a sea of sweet smiling faces, happy nervous energy, and wide-eyed amazement. If you could bottle the energy that was swirling through those hallways today, you would have found the fountain of youth!
Madame Katie led the kids to their room, they took off their wet outdoor shoes, and then they filed into the classroom to begin this most monumental first day of school. There wasn't a tear in the bunch! My fear had been that one of these little tender souls would let out a wail for Mom on their way into the classroom and it would spread like a bad disease. But not a peep was heard, not even from a Mom!



Tonight she's tired, but successful. And Monday we get to do it all over again!

2 comments:

  1. Bravo Meredith!! And bravo mama for traversing this transition with dry eyes this morning.

    I love those family rituals and think that the picture by the piano is a fantastic way to watch her grow.

    Hope to see you soon, my friend :)

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