That is to say, she's a First Grader now!
How long do we celebrate "First Day of School" days, anyway? Do we do this every year or do we just start calling it by grade? Somehow "First Day of Second Grade!" just doesn't have that zing!, if you know what I mean.
Anyway!
I was up at 5 am, because this bladder never sleeps anymore. Four liters of water, twins and aching hips ensure that no sleeping action continues for more than an hour and a half. Le Sigh! So I waddled downstairs, did a little reading and made Caitlin's lunch. I was planning on going up to the school with her, even though I wasn't going to walk it (I would have needed an hour head start and I'm not joking!). Caitlin got up, roughly when her alarm went off and got ready for the day.
We made it out of the house basically on time but not quite early enough to get a close in parking spot, so Eric dropped the two of us off. Children were everywhere! At that very moment, I realized something important:
I had forgotten my camera!
I was so busy trying to make sure we had all of Caitlin's gear and school supplies that I'd completely forgotten about my camera. But I had my water bottle, by golly! So there are no pictures of drop off, but several of pick up.
Caitlin suddenly went shy. There was a small huddle of the girls from her kindergarten class and that she was friends with, but she suddenly couldn't make herself walk over to them and say "Hi.". I've no idea what was going on, I'll just chalk it up to First Day nerves. I walked over, with her attached to my leg, and said "Hi!" in a voice loud enough to be heard over the cacophony. Her friends turned around and welcomed her, but she still wouldn't let go of my leg. Poor kitten! After a few minutes, Eric showed up and then the bell rang. Everyone scrambled for their position in line and then trudged in, weighed down by bags of school supplies.
Kisses and hugs were exchanged and then she filed into her new classroom, along with the other first graders. They had to locate their desks, put their new gear into it and get settled in. Desks! Suddenly the reality of being a big kid was visible via school furniture. Funny, that!
Eric and I turned to leave and were mobbed by all of the moms of Caitlin's school friends who were all stunned that I was either a) still alive or b) still pregnant or c) surviving the heat. OK, maybe not so much on the "a" selection....It was fun to chat with them and have my ego stroked over hanging in there and some even marveled over the fact that I still have ankles. My feet may be swollen, but apparently my ankles aren't ready to give in yet. Resting throughout the day is probably helping.
After school, we encountered Little Miss Dejected. Check out that body language!
Look at that little sad face!
Clearly, something had to be done, and fast! Eric was just the man for the job. He picked her up and applied the famous Ninja Daddy Technique of Shaking the Grumps Out.
Works like a charm, every time. Here she is clinging to his leg in a much different manner than she had been to mine 6 hours earlier. Much better!We snuck inside to check out her desk. There it was, in all its glory!
There she'll sit for the rest of the year.We grilled her on her first day adventures and she mentioned that she made 3 new friends that day, as Eric had exhorted her to just before she walked into the classroom. She can't remember all 3 of their names, but at least she didn't just immediately cling to the girls that she already knew. Tomorrow and every day after should go a lot more smoothly. I won't be up for walking her to school, but at least I made it to the very First Day.
Hurrah!
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