First Day of School

Wow, summer is already gone. (I know it technically isn’t, but it feels that way when school starts.)

On Monday, Bria started her first day of Kindergarten.  It is hard to believe she is old enough or mature enough to be in school.  There are some days though where she acts older than she actually is and I think she should be in a higher grade. 

Bria was so excited to go.  Then, the day before school she started to get a bit nervous about all of the uncertainties: could she carry her tray at lunch without spilling, will she have any friends there that she knew before, will she get in trouble for talking too much, etc.  I told her it was okay to be a little nervous, but that she shouldn’t worry too much because her teacher and the other helpers would help her if she had any problems.  That only helped a little.

The day came, and Bentley and I walked Bria to school.  We got there early to get all of her supplies labeled and organized.  We stayed with her in her classroom until school started.  She got a little teary before we left, but the teacher was prepared.  For the first day of school the kids had to bring a favorite teddy bear and they needed to name it.  Bria brought a bear that she hadn’t named yet, but decided that morning to name it Mommy so that Mommy would be with her at school all day.  That gave her some comfort, and once I left she did just fine.

Her moment of difficulty caused me a little teariness as well.  It was very hard for me not to call the school to check up on her, to make sure she was doing okay and behaving.  David called to check on me a few times through day, and said he wanted to check up on her too.  (What a loving Dad!)  Finally it was time for Bentley and I to walk back to school to pick Bria up.  On our walk home, Bria couldn’t contain her excitement.  She had had a great day at school.

Bria all ready to leave for school.

Bria at her table in her classroom.  Bentley had to scoot another chair right up next to her and sit with her.

Each morning, Bria has had a hard time with me leaving her at school, but always has a good report about her day when I pick her up.  On Friday (her 4th day of school), she had a much easier time with me leaving.  We will have to see how things go after the weekend break.

Maybe your wondering how Bentley has handled this transition.  I wondered how she would.  It seems that Bentley doesn’t really care that Bria isn’t home.  Bentley is just fine doing something by herself (not being bossed around by a big sister), and spending time watching whatever I am working on.  She doesn’t ask about Bria, not even when she will be coming home.  After her nap in the early afternoon, I wake her up so we can get Bria from school, and she appears to be excited to have her come back home.  When we get home, the first 30 minutes to an hour, the girls seem to fight each other a bit more than normal.  After that, they are off playing together the way they usually do.

This has definitely been a transition for us, and we are still working on getting into a new normal routine.