First Day of School

I was sweating there for a few days worrying about how Firefly would do at school on Wednesday.  We stopped in on Tuesday evening for the "back to school bash" which was really an opportunity to drop off school supplies and eat hot dogs (we skipped the eating hot dogs part) as well as a chance to throw a softball at the dunking tank and dunk people we don't really know yet.  We also bought some spirit shirts so the kids have some t-shirts to wear on spirit days (first Friday of every month).  He was tired despite a 45 minute quiet time downstairs (he stopped napping about the last two weeks of school last year, but is insistent that he still needs a nap at school) and honestly, he was nervous about being there and it was obvious.  He didn't want to answer the teachers questions, he acted like he couldn't find his classroom (even though Flipflop and I were inside it), he put things away where he obviously knew they didn't go and was just acting silly the entire time we were there on Tuesday night.  I enlisted the help of hubby on Wednesday morning for drop off.  I had this vision of him either latching onto me and not letting go or him taking off running down the hallway.  Previous experiences have proven both of these scenarios do happen with him every once in a while.

We dropped Flipflop off first - piece of cake!  She informed me when she got home that she already knew all of her friends and that she was the only new person in her class so she didn't meet anyone new. Obviously coming to VBS and going to the birthday party a couple of weeks ago proved to be worth it for her - she was the new kid and already knew everyone in her whole class (I think there were a couple of people she hadn't met, but she knew enough that it didn't feel like it).  I can tell she's a bit nervous about the work, but hopefully that will subside as she gets back into the swing of things.

Then we walked Firefly to his classroom.  When we got to the door it was a sea of legs.  He looked at me and whispered - there's too many people.  So I said, ok, we'll wait over here for some of the grown ups to leave and then you can try again.  About six parents walked out and I knelt down and reminded him that his best friend (Jesus) is with him wherever he goes.  Then I took his hand and reminded him about The Kissing Hand and started to plant a kiss on his hand and he shook free of my grasp, looked at me appalled that I would even consider trying to kiss him in front of his classroom, turned around and walked in.  Never looked back.

When I picked him up I was relieved to learn that the worst part of his day was when another child was acting crazy, crying and running around the room ringing the bell that is supposed to tell you when to stop.  Oh thank God, it wasn't you!