Bree Hester

My sweet baby girl went to kindergarten this morning.  I did not think that I would cry.  I was wrong.  I did not think that I would be so emotional about it.  Wrong, again.  Her daddy did not think that he would cry or be so emotional either.  We were both wrong.  As much as I love that she loves school, and was so excited to go to big girl school, part of me is going to miss her.  I loved our afternoons together.  When Clay was a baby, we would put him down for a nap, and we would snuggle and read books or watch Glee, or bake a treat.  Color.  Our afternoons were ours.  The boys doing their own thing and the two of us just hanging out.  Once they hit kindergarten, there is no going back.  They are officially students, and school is a big priority.  It is not like preschool, kindy is serious business.  And from now on, they spend more time at school with their teacher then they do with us.  Scary thought isn’t it?

She loved her first day.  Yesterday, we got to meet her teacher and see her classroom.  We went on a little classroom scavenger hunt, putting her supplies away as we went around the stations.  Her little chair with her notebooks tucked into the back, and her “Brain Break Mat”, her cubby.  Her classroom is super fancy, it has a smartboard, and she needed to move her name to the correct spot on the graph.  It about did me in.  Her teacher appears to be wonderful, and Ava likes her a lot.  For the first two weeks, she goes in the afternoons to transition them to a full day.  They have a long school day, 7:55 – 3:20, so they ease them into it.  We ate lunch, got ready, and walked to school.  She got in line, and the teacher told the kids to blow us a kiss and wave goodbye.  Rip off the band-aid.  Ava literally skipped to the classroom, I stood there with the other mommas who had tears streaming down their faces.  Clay and I walked home, and his teacher came over for a visit.  She left, and Clay and I read some books, watched some Food Network, and picked up where Ava and I left off.  I wonder if he likes to watch Glee too?

This series kills me for two reasons.  One, my child now looks like he belongs in Econ 101, not 2nd grade.  Two, my photography skills are always questionable for first day pictures.  I think that it is because, as prepared as we are, there is always some amount of rushing on the first day.  Always hectic.  And, on days like these, I am not wearing my photographer hat, but my mom hat.  Who cares if there are hot spots and some are slightly out of focus?  All I want is to document this big day.

William had a fabulous first day of school, and absolutely nothing could have made me happier than when he came rushing into the house this afternoon (did I mention that they walk home.  BY THEMSELVES??) and said that school was great and that he loved it.  William is very bright, and a great student, but he is not exactly an enthusiastic student. I am not sure if that is exactly the right term for what his attitude towards school is, but it is the best that I can give you right now.  His teacher last year was perfect for him, it was really hard to leave the amazing school that we were at, and he was in his element.  There was a certain amount of apprehension for all of us about him going to a new school.  He was concerned about having a hard time making new friends, getting lost, the usual first day stuff.  The good thing this year, is about 80% of the kids are in the same exact boat as him.  All new, all staying for one year, and they are all military kids.  Military kids are truly amazing.  They are flexible in ways that I wish that I could be.  They can just walk up to  a kid, tell them that they have a nice bike, and then they ride off together, new friends.  If only adults could be that friendly.

Doesn’t he just look positively old?  The walk to school.  Same as in California, we can see our school from our backyard.  We are super lucky.  Clay was a little confused about who exactly was going to school this morning.Waiting to line up.  Clay is the only one that seems to not be annoyed with my picture taking at this point.My girl is ready. Wearing her pin that her teacher gave her. My kids are big enough that they go to school where you can ride your bike.  Oh my.This is Ava’s buddy.  He thought that he was getting his cast off this morning, only to get a new, camo one.  Only on an Army base, that is for sure. And she is off.  She didn’t even turn around to wave.  I have more to share with you, but I promised that I would not stay up too late.  These early mornings are not for the weak.  I should have done drills for a few days beforehand.  I was exhausted by 2 this afternoon. Out of practice.