First Day

The first day of school. And Miss Pink's first day of kindergarten. She'd been going to preschool for three years, but that was only a few hours a week. This was the real deal.

Last night she said, "I'm a little nervous." I assured her that's perfectly normal. I told her even her uncle (who has a master's degree) is nervous going back to school. I said, "I bet you have so much fun you forget to be nervous." And she agreed.

This morning Mr. Blue woke me up earlier than I had to be up--he heard Justin getting up to go to the gym and of course the little guy was "hundry." Soon after that I woke his sister up and she was rarin' to go. I could barely get her to stand still for pictures before she was out the door and ready to walk to school--it's across the street.

We were the first ones to class (it wasn't THAT early, about 15 minutes before the first bell) and after she got started with some playdough, I asked her if she wanted me to stick around for a few minutes or go ahead and go. "I want you to go ahead and go," she said. A hug and a kiss and that was it.

Did I cry? No, I didn't think I would and I was right. Miss P was never clingy, even as an infant, and that has conditioned me to let her go when she's ready to be independent. I did wonder if she would miss me when the other kids came in with their parents. Maybe there's something wrong with me for not being emotional, I thought. My husband did tell me I'm the "least clingy" mom he knows. Really? The LEAST clingy? That sounds like I'm giving the kids a piece of bread and shoving them out into the woods for bears to eat them. But he meant it as a compliment, and since he doesn't know any for-real neglectful parents, I guess I'll take it that way.

Mr. Blue and I went to the gym and the bank. Not long after we got home, I got a call from the school nurse. Miss P had thrown up while on the playground. But the nurse said, she was begging not to go home on her first day of school. "I only threw up because I was hot and hungry," Miss Pink argued her case (something she's VERY good at). The nurse said she'd let her stay if I was okay with it, and she'd call if something else happened. I said yes, but spent the rest of the day second-guessing myself.

Apparently I made the right decision, because she didn't throw up again even after eating lunch or tonight (although she burped a lot this evening--I have no idea how the gas could be connected, but I gave her medicine for it and her tummy felt better before bedtime). Maybe she DID just get overheated and overexcited--Lord knows I've vomited under those conditions, except I was in college and I threw up in front of the entire football team; THAT was not one of my finer moments, let me tell you.

I had more to say, especially about how annoyed I was at the school for not providing drop-off and pick-up instructions before today, but I need to stop now and go hang out with my husband for a few minutes before getting into bed. That 6:30 wake-up time kicked my tail.

So let me just say to Miss Pink, if she reads this in a few years, that I am so proud of you, my precious girl. I will be right behind you, ready to pick you up and comfort you if you need me, but also willing to stand back and let you have your own adventures. Just don't forget to come back home and tell me what you learned along the way.