Alaina's 1st Day of Kindergarten

Alaina's first day of Kindergarten was August 18. She really wanted to ride the bus, but the parents were supposed to bring their kid into the classroom the first day, so I said I would put her on the bus, and then drive into town to meet her there and walk her to her room. Not knowing where to go when she got off the bus was her ONLY concern about the first day of school, so I PROMISED I would be there. The bus picked her up, I went inside long enough to get a mug of coffee to go, and then Ryan and I headed into town. When we got there, we didn't see her bus yet, so we were kind of hanging out on the school lawn, when I noticed one of our neighbor girls waiting for her bus to the middle school. I really wanted to cry when it dawned on me that I had missed her bus and wasn't there like I had promised I would be, and totally pictured Alaina crumbled in some corner because her mom had abandoned her. Ryan and I booked it to her classroom, where she was already settled in and coloring, and didn't seemed phased at all. The teachers and staff must have done a great job of whisking kids off to their proper rooms as soon as they got there. I did see Mr. Brownlee, her bus driver (and t-ball coach), in the hallway after I left, and scolded him for driving too fast and ruining MY MOMENT. Because let's face it, this day was All About Me! Right?


Alaina with Logan and Garrett, who now live down the road from us, and whom I have watched for the past 3 years before and after school. They were excited to help Alaina out on her first day. Good thing they were there when she got off the bus at school, since I wasn't!


All set to go: New clothes, shoes, backpack, and even her name tag.


Mad rush for the bus! I tried to get a picture of her stepping on, but it was too crowded. My only real memory of my first day of school is walking up to the bus all by myself at the end of our driveway, and having to climb up using my hands and knees because the steps were so tall! My giant kid didn't have that problem though.

When it finally dawned on me that my daughter was not sharing in my sappy, first-day-of-Kindergarten, capture-it-all-on-film enthusiasm, I asked her "Do you want mommy and Ryan to leave now?" To which I received a rather unapologetic "Yes, mom." What?!?! That's it. When Ryan starts Kindergarten, somebody WILL cry, darn it!