Only 13 More Years To Go

I think I've been dreading Claire's first day of school for about 4 years now. It was hard enough for me to send her to preschool for half a day a few days a week, but this all day, every day stuff is no fun.

See?

Claire, on the other hand, would totally disagree. I think she has asked every few days this summer how much longer it would be before she would get to go to school. She has been looking forward to this moment for awhile now. In fact, she was thoroughly disappointed and dismayed when she didn't get to "sit at a desk and learn" during her kindergarten screening process last spring. And she was all smiles and mile-a-minute chatter during the school's Open House last week.

I'm actually happy that this is her attitude about school, as sending her when she didn't want to go would make it even more difficult for me.


Last night, to ensure that her first day was a complete success, she:

1. Chose the best possible outfit - this was an issue of much debate on her part.
2. Detailed her lunch menu of choice
3. Had me read through all the information in the school handbook
4. Double checked all the school supply items in her schoolbag
5. Gave her dad specific instructions on how she wanted him to wake her in the morning.

She has been placed in a combined kindergarten/first grade class, and her teacher has been described to me as a kind teacher who utilizes a lot of routine and structure.

I'm thinking this is a good fit.

As for the aforementioned, specially chosen outfit:

While she is completely adorable in this dress, I was a little surprised that she chose it. She's had it for a long time, and it's not new at all.


In fact, this is her first day of school picture for her first day of preschool - TWO YEARS AGO!

Same dress, but a much smaller Claire. Just look at those sweet baby cheeks.

But she's all grown up now and ready to start her big first day.

I really thought that she might start to get a little nervous, maybe even a little teary as we entered the school and her classroom, but here she is about 2 seconds after we walked in the door.

And here's mommy, who was finding every excuse I could think of to prolong my stay in her class.

Her smile is totally genuine. My is totally fake.


I held it together until I saw this:

Ben giving his big sister a goodbye hug. He was NOT happy about leaving her.




Claire, however, was all "see ya later, dude."

And still trying to find excuses not to leave, I took one last picture.

Claire is just visible on the right.

So, I left.

Then I cried.

Shut up.



It took me awhile to recover. Ben, however, quickly realized that Claire at school meant that he had mommy all to himself.

And mommy quickly realized that it is not possible for her to "play trains" longer than 5 minutes without losing her sanity.

My messy-faced lunch date.

After lunch we went to the school for a parent's meeting, and we were able to take Claire home early. She was still all smiles, and she didn't stop talking for about 20 minutes straight.

School is totally cool with her.

So, only about 12 years and 100 and something days more of this.

Maybe I'll be cool with her being in school by then too.

Or not.