First Day of School

Over the past few week we have been buying new clothes, lots of crayons and paper, and talking a LOT about Kindergarten! Sunday night we came home early from Grandma and Pa's house. We let Michelle help make her lunch, pack her snack, and pick out her clothes. We went through our normal night time routine (tubs, brushing teeth, reading books, ect.) and then had Michelle come into our room to give her a father's blessing. After her blessing we gave Michelle a special necklace for her to wear to remind her how loved she is and how proud of her we are. Then we gave big hugs and sent her off to bed.

When I went in to check on the girls before heading to bed myself that night I found them cuddled up together. Apparently, we weren't the only ones who were going to be missing Michelle while she was at school. 

The next morning we all woke up early, got ready, and got excited to start the first day of school!

I made Michelle a special breakfast...

and then we headed out to take a few priceless pictures.

 

Dropping Michelle of in her classroom was very emotional for both of us. You could tell that she was a little nervous and unsure, but also very excited.

Ms.Bardach and Michelle

 

 Starting the day off by coloring a picture was really great for Michelle. She loves to color so this made her feel a lot more comfortable.

On the way home from dropping Michelle off we stopped to get Tina a special treat to make her morning a little happier.

I don't have any pictures of after school because, to be honest, they wouldn't have been very happy pictures. We left the house at 2:20 to pick up Michelle. I was thinking that would be plenty early enough to be one of the first parents in line. Boy was I wrong! The carpool line was already freakishly long. We sat in line for a few minutes and then realized that we had forgotten our carpool number! So we pulled out of line, parked in the neighborhood, and walked up to the school to find out what we should do. Well this turned into a whole different fiasco, but I won't go into that right now. Long story short, we met Michelle at the front office. 

I was SO ready to see her smiling face and could hardly wait for all the fun stories she would tell. Instead, when I saw her, my stomach dropped. She looked so beat down and just not herself at all. On our way back to the car and after we got home we were all talking about her day and what she did. The Conversation went something like this...

Me: Michelle! I'm so happy to see you! How was your day?

Michelle: It was sorta ok.

Me: Sorta ok?! Did you have fun? What kind of stuff did you learn?

Michelle: Well, I don't really remember anything that I learned.

I took this as a hint that she might just be tired and a little overwhelmed so I decided to take the day step by step and talk to her about each part. She still didn't have a lot to say until we got to this part of the conversation...

Me: What about Lunch? Did you see any of your friends at lunch?

Michelle: Yeah, I saw Connor, but I wasn't allowed to sit with him.

Me: Oh, well that's ok. I'm sure that will help you make lots of new friends. So, who did you sit with?

Michelle: No one I know.

Me: Ok, well what did you talk about?

Michelle: We didn't talk. It was a silent lunch.

Me: A silent lunch?! Well, maybe to make sure that you had enough time to eat. Did you like your lunch?

Michelle: Yeah, but I didn't have any drink.

Me: We packed your water bottle. 

Michelle: Yeah, but I couldn't open it.

Me: Couldn't your teacher open it for you?

Michelle: No, I asked her, but she wouldn't do it for me.

Seriously?! It's the first day of Kindergarten and you can't talk at lunch, AND your teacher won't help you open your water? I can understand wanting the kids to be self-sufficient, but it was the first day, and even I have a hard time opening some of those bottles. Plus, if you don't want the kids bringing those bottles that's fine, but you should still open it for her today and then send home a note to ME asking me not to pack them anymore. I mean... seriously.

We kept talking and her day never seemed to get much better. I tried to pull happy moments out of her day. Like the fact that she got to play with one of her friends during recess. Or that she got a happy face on her chart, or a not that said she had a "puuuurfect first day". It wasn't until she had sat down at home, rested for a while, had a small snack and a HUGE drink of water that she seemed to come back to her normal happy self. To be honest it kind of broke my heart. I'm just hoping and praying that her second day goes a million times better.