The First Day - Part Two

Well, I'm happy to report that Michael's first day of kindergarten went off without a hitch. Unless you count me coming unglued in the shower as a hitch. Which I did.

Bright and early at 6:50 I woke Michael up. He was in a deep sleep and hard to wake up but when he did I've never seen him get dressed so quickly. Phase one complete, I said to myself.

He picked through his breakfast, eating only part of his french toast. He complained of a tummy ache, which I immediately chalked up to nerves, and excused him from the table to go brush his teeth.

After teeth brushing it was time to put on the shoes. Not just any shoes, but tie shoes, ones he doesn't know how to operate just yet. His teacher said that was fine because she ties a lot of shoes and likes to help teach the kids to tie their own shoes. Score another point for her!

I like to be on time or even early, but my family does not and does their best to torture me by dilly dallying so we are always late. Amazingly enough, however, we were ready to go by 7:30, the time I had targeted to get out the door. That way we would be on time for sure: 5 minutes to walk to the bus stop that was just down at the end of our street, and 10 minutes to wait for the bus, which is what the bus notice suggested. Phase 2 complete.

So, backpack on his back and head held high, Michael set out for his first day of kindergarten. He looked so confident and unafraid. He looked so sure of himself. He looked like a kindergartener.

Of course no one else showed up at the bus stop until about 3 minutes before the bus came. They'd already had their first day of school so the newness of the experience had worn off for them. When we did see that big yellow vehicle making its way down the street, I had to ward off a lump in my throat in order to tell Michael that his bus was coming.

I took a deep breath. Here it is, I thought, that one defining moment that every parent both looks forward to and dreads at the same time - their child getting on the bus for the first day of school.

When the bus stopped, all the kids lined up and Michael followed. I had to pull him back in order to give him a hug - he was so anxious to get on that bus. I couldn't even squeak out an "I love you" because I knew it would cause me to cry and I didn't want to cry in front of him.

And just like that he was on the bus and in his seat. He didn't even look back at me as he got on the bus. No separation anxiety here. We could see him through the window and he waved to us and we waved back to him. Luckily for me the bus driver diverted my attention from the enormity of the moment by telling us that from now on bus pickup wouldn't be until 8:00. Fifteen more minutes to sleep, I thought. Hurrah! Then she closed the doors and drove away, carrying my very precious cargo.

All day long I wished I could be a fly on the wall of Michael's classroom. As Nicholas and I finished our breakfast I wondered what Michael was doing. Would he remember how to get to his classroom? Would he remember where to put his lunchbox and backback? Would his confidence remain or would he suddently turn shy as he sometimes does in new situations?

Finally at 3:20 it was time to go meet Michael's bus. Both Nicholas and I were anxious to see him as we had both missed him. The bus was on time and Michael was, of course, the last one to emerge.

"Hi buddy!" I cried as I knelt down and enfolded him in my open arms for a great big bear hug. "How was your first day of kindergarten?"

"It was great!" he said as he hugged me back with all his might, melting into my arms and relieving all of his pent-up anxiety from the day.

"Did you miss me?" I asked as we walked back to the house.

"No," he answered honestly.

"Well, I missed you," I told him.

"Why?" Why indeed! Our children have no idea how hard this day is for their parents!

As I pelleted him with a barrage of questions he eagerly told me about his day, which surprised me as I really didn't expect to get much information from him.

"Mom," he began, "we had two recesses instead of one, and we even got rest time where we got to watch some tv! We had center time and I played in the kitchen and with blocks and I drew lots of pictures and colored. We had music and our we sang songs while our music teacher played the guitar. I had so much fun today, Mom! How many days until I get to go back?"

I gave him another hug and this time it was my pent-up anxiety from the day that was relieved. My little innocent boy had survived his first day of kindergarten unscathed and unchanged. For now.

I'm happy to report that Michael and I have now survived 2 days of kindergarten and each time it gets a little easier to release him to the bus. He even has a new friend, Samantha, a curly haired blonde (of course) who came up to him and asked it he wanted to be her friend. I think he's in love but I don't think I have to worry about losing him to her yet because he said that he still likes food better than her!