Kindergarten Rocks!

I will have to admit that the thought of my first-born child going to Kindergarten and starting real school terrified me.  It scared me in so many different ways.  Emma Kate may be 5 years old, but she is still my baby.  She is still so naïve and innocent.  I want to be able to keep her that way, little and sweet, for as long as I can.  Leading up to the first day, she began to get very excited.  I knew that I had to get a hold of my mommy emotions, put them to the side and make this a new and exciting milestone for my big girl.

We had Meet and Greet prior to school starting.  It was on a Sunday.  You will see another upcoming blog post about what else happened on that Sunday (see Emelia has an Orbital Fracture).  We got everything ready and headed to the school to meet the teacher and see the classroom for the first time.



It was so bittersweet seeing my big girl walk into that ginormous school.  In our district, this particular school is an Early Childhood Developmental Center.  The school only goes up to second grade (maybe it's first grade).  We met her teacher, whom she adored, and walked all around the classroom.  I think she got her feel for what to expect.






















On the first day of school, I grabbed her tiny hand and was ready to take off for a brand new adventure. She had the biggest smile on her face, her bookbag on her back as she carried it all by herself and she began to walk into the school with all the confidence in the world.  We found her classroom, we unloaded her things.  She hung her bookbag on the hook by herself and placed her lunchbox into the lunchbox basket.  She was ready to start her day.  She looked up at me with the sweetest eyes and I could tell she was growing up.  It was bittersweet for me.  I wanted to smile back at her on the outside and on the inside, I wanted to scream and cry and say NO WAY!  I gave her a big hug and big kiss because that is what mommy's of a kindergartener can do and I was off to leave my little baby behind to start a life of independence on her own.

On the way to back home, I didn't cry.  I wanted to, but my heart was happy that she was so eager to learn and be a Big Girl in a Big Class doing Big Girl things with Big Girl Friends.  Instead, when I walked in the door, I grabbed my two-year old, scooped her into my arms and gave her the biggest hug I had....Afterall, babies don't keep and I am going to soak in every last second with that little one being little.

Emma Kate had the BEST day.  She just loved it.  She met a new friend.  She ate her lunch.  She was able to open her water bottle by herself.  My big girl did just fine and for that I am a happy mama!