1st Day of Kindergarten!

Yesterday Sammie started school. Yes, my little girl is now a kindergartener. She was looking forward to going to school when we bought her backpack and other school supplies, but once the time came to actually go to school. She didn't want to. She said she was going to miss Violet too much. Isn't that sweet?

It was tough dropping her off on the first day. Her face was taut with nerves and she wouldn't smile. My poor girl. I knew she would have fun once things got started. But school is a big place and she's never been away from me for so long before. Kindergarten these days is a full day, not a half day like when I was little. She kept saying she didn't want to go, she wanted to stay home with me, and I had to push her to try something new and go to school anyway.

Before driving to school Sammie could smile!
So after a few tears that I shared with my friend, Kristen, (why didn't we get a picture of the sobbing mothers on the sidelines?), and after I watched Sammie file into the building in a single file line, I took Reese and Violet home. And we had a very pleasant day. I was still feeling bad for Sammie and was praying that she'd have a good time, but I was enjoying the quiet at home.

Here is how my first day of school went:
-Cleaned up the kitchen
-Played with Reese
-Started the laundry and did some light cleaning while Reese played by HERSELF!! (I'm not used to children entertaining themselves. For very long that is)
-I fed the girls lunch and put them down for naps.
-The house was sooo quiet. So I made some lunch and ate it all by myself with no one crawling on me. And I read my book too.
-That's when I felt the earthquake!
-At some point I found a stick bug on the front porch and thought it was pretty cool so I caught it in Sammie's bug jar to show her after school. I was pretty proud of myself.
-Picked Sammie up from school hoping to hear that she had a most excellent time, but alas, all she said was that it was too long and she didn't want to go back. :(

When I asked Sammie what her favorite part of the day was, she said it was waiting for me to pick her up at the end. Oh dear.

But after much prying and questioning I finally got some information out of her about her first day. Such as...
-she sat at a table of all girls for lunch. Another table had all boys and one girl. And another table had mostly boys and some girls. But her table was all girls.
-Her teacher made a lot of mistakes during the day. Including, not getting Sammie's water bottle to her at lunch time (because Sam had forgotten it in the room).
-They did a move called "dead bug" at PE that she liked. She also learned the Chicken Dance. She says she wants to go back to school only for PE.
-She got to hula hoop and jump rope at recess. And there was a short girl that could do a lot of jumps with her rope. Sammie thought she was probably a toddler. I'm pretty sure she was just a petite 5 year old.
-The teacher told everyone that Sammie's birthday is on Saturday! She thought that was pretty exciting. :)
Not only was today the first day of school, it was also the first day of soccer. I wonder if Sammie will like it as well as I did? And as for the Reese picture, that's just how we do things here at West Point.



Today was day number two at school. And although she really, really didn't want to go, she still managed to be goofy for a few minutes in the parking lot.

Sammie kept begging and begging not to go! She complicated the getting ready process as much as she could by pulling out her ponytail and melting into the floor instead of getting dressed. But finally we made it to school and I managed to leave her in her class line while I stood to the side. But then a boy started sobbing, and another girl right in front of Sammie was crying and being cuddled by her mom, and that's when Sam lost it. She burst into tears and clung to me through the chain link fence. They let me walk her into the building and down to her classroom since she wouldn't go by herself. That's where her teacher, Ms.May, had to pry her from me and bring her into the classroom. It was all very heart wrenching. Usually Sammie walks right into new situations and is just fine. But school is different somehow. I hope she got over her nerves and had some fun today! I really want her to like school. I think it will be really good for her.