First Grade at a New School

"IT'S FIRST GRADE!!!!!!!!!!"

Please note the caps, bold, larger font and multiple exclamation points to convey the emphasis that was put into this yelled statement.

Next to my bed at 2:15 this morning. Two fifteen Ante Meridiem (AM).

Do you think someone was excited?

***

Both boys were up at 5:50 Ante Meridiem (AM), dressed in 4 minutes and downstairs ready to go to school. Then. Right then. Even though school didn't start for another 2 1/2 hours.

***

They were beyond excited, clearly nervous and losing control. They were wrestling, quibbling about things and refusing to eat breakfast. This was a completely new school for them.

All along I planned on my kids attending public school. But when we didn't get two of the few full-day kindergarten slots in our town school system, we had to scramble to get them into a full-day program that could accommodate Amazing Guy (AG) and my work schedules. We also were dealing with the fact that the boys had already been in a year of kindergarten.

Yup, our boys were born 10 days before the cut-off for first grade. We didn't want them to be the youngest in their class so we decided that after a year in a small (only 9 kids with one teacher) kindergarten class, they would have another year in separate classes for no other reason than to get used to being apart. Nothing academic or social. We just wanted each boy to get a bit more comfortable in his own skin.

So between wanting this extra year, and not getting full-day kindergarten, we ended up in a parochial school. We always knew this would be a one year thing.

***

So off we all went this morning with only one kid having to spend time in his room for misbehaving. As we arrived we saw kids from previous soccer and basketball teams and kids who had attended their beloved preschool. All the first graders and their families went into the auditorium. The kids lined up beside their teachers' names on poster boards. Some kids were just looking around, others were having joyful reunions while others were bawling.

Then there were the parents. Some were just standing to the side watching, others were on top of their kids trying to introduce them to every other kid around, some were trying to pull their kids off of them while others were openly crying.

AG and I? We stood back and waved when they waved but otherwise hung back and talked to other parents. "Bye Mama!!" they both yelled when it was time to leave with their classes. Both have young teachers - one is still a "Miss" while another is just returning from maternity leave. They both seem capable and enthusiastic. Exactly what you would want your children's first grade teachers to be.

And after the boys left for their first grade class? AG and I didn't exactly skip out of the school.

But it was close.