First Days of School

The first day of our first child in the first grade was a BIG day for our whole family. For a week, we practiced for a much more structured schedule and a much much earlier morning routine. So with a week of practicing under our belt, Maddie beat Mommy’s alarm clock and was anxious as ever to wear her favorite bright pink-almost -red shirt for “red day” and to get her hair curled. She was first to make her bed, first to finish breakfast (this never happens), and the first one in the van with Megan in the driver’s seat (Megan was really sad when she realized she couldn’t be the bus driver “for reals”).

Maddie entered the school yard with her backpack of lunch money, water bottle, repaired jump rope, jacket, and “homework folder” anxious as ever for her first day in first grade. We aren’t sure if she was more excited about eating at school like the big kids, playing with her friends at two recesses, or coming home with homework (yesterday she told Mommy she’d been waiting a whole year to get homework), but she entered the doors of her portable classroom ready for her new adventure.

With the door closing, Mommy remembered the conversation she had with Maddie the night before when Maddie asked, “Mommy are you going to cry when I go to school?”. Mommy replied, “not in front of you” to which Maddie responded, “well don’t cry on the first day.” So as the doors to the portable closed, Mommy kept her feelings of realizing “baby Maddie was now a BIG first grader” out of Maddie’s sight.

Today Carter was also off to his first official week of returning to Teeter Tot Preschool. He had his first day of preschool last week and just like he did that day, he insisted he was going to be the “biker guy” at preschool again today. So, once again he dressed in sweat pants (even though it’s still 90+ degrees outside), a t-shirt (if he had his way he wouldn’t be wearing a t-shirt), his Sunday dress vest, and his cowboy boots. Each day we are humored and full of smiles because Carter’s fashionable wardrobe is based on who he thinks he is going to be that day. And, regardless of who he his (Spiderman, Batman, Superman, and now “Biker Guy”), he is never fully dressed without his boots.


(Click in the lower left corner to see the individual images)