The First Day of Kindergarten

John has officially grown up right before my eyes (it seems).  It feels like only yesterday that Luke and I brought him home from the hospital.

John at school orientation

He is so excited about going to full day kindergarten and we are too!  This was him at his orientation two days ago.  He loves his new teacher and is very excited to make so many new friends.

My first day of kindergarten

This is me on my first day of kindergarten.  Can you tell it was the early 80s?  We lived in a neighborhood of three cul-de-sacs and there were probably 30 kids at the bus stop.  I was so excited to be one of the big kids until my mom started taking photos.  She didn’t take one.  She took a million.  The thing you need to know about my mom is she is a closet photographer.  I think she really wished she followed this career path because when she takes a photo it is not a quick process.  She lines everything up and then wants you to pose this way and that.  She did this at the bus stop with all the big kids. I was not happy, if you can see from my face, I was very embarrassed.  I promised myself I would not be that kind of mom today.

Guess what?  I couldn’t help myself.  I wanted to capture this very important day in John’s life.  The first day of what we hope will be many years of higher education.

Here are some photos from this morning:

ready to go, red pack filled!

As we drove to school, there were kids waiting out in the rain tucked under brightly colored umbrellas.  I saw the buses going by ferrying school children to the warm teachers and classrooms that were waiting to welcome them.

There was a police officer directing traffic into the school and that is when I felt it.  The lump in my chest.  This was another thing I promised myself today – I’m not going to cry.  I felt the lump slowly move up into my throat and suddenly warm tears started trickling and then gushing down my face.  I’m so proud of my big boy, but I’m also so sad.  So sad that he’s already this big.  So sad that our days of let’s pretend in the backyard and aimless joy rides are gone.  This is the first time as a parent that I’ve had to let go of the reins and relinquish some control.  He will be away from me every day for nearly 7 hours!

The scholar en route to school.

The sky is so dark and the heavens have opened.  In a way, the weather is mirroring my mood.  We are all missing John right now – Poppy is under his bed, Conor is looking for him (missing his partner in crime) and I’m sitting here crying at the computer.  I’m sure John is having fun with his new friends.  I just hope he has those listening ears on and that he remembers that he is buying lunch today!