Tuesday, August 26, 2008

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.

Photobucket

12 comments:

  1. Oh poor little lady! That was great the nurse took care of her, called you, and let her stay on.

    Go independent munchkins!

    Happy 1st day of KG. We're in your same boat.

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  2. I think I'll give you a run the title of least clingy parent.

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  3. Least clingy? How about most well adjusted. I don't think it's necessarily a good thing when kids hold onto parents all cow eyed and scared outta their skulls...ehem...you know, like my kids.

    What a very happy and independant little girl. Sassy, that photo says, in a good way.

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  4. That is great that she did so well! I don't think there is anything wrong with you for not being emotional. You've already been letting her go to pre-school and that probably makes it easier than if she'd never been to school before. I am betting being nervous plus overheated made her feel sick. How cute that she begged not to go home!!

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  5. I love your girl, so small yet so matured, especially when she say didn't want to go home on her first day of school...I was wondering if the 'gas' went in because too many 'butterflies were in her tummy' Flapping too much, creating too much 'wind' (remember she was nervous?)*laugh*

    'least clingy'...lets say its more like giving the child the chance to get a taste of life, venture out without pulling the string too tight...I like this kind of parenting

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  6. You're doing a good job raising her, obviously!
    I remember on my daughter's first day of school - the teacher had to keep calling me at home because the poor little bug kept wiping out and getting scraped!

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  7. First day of school? I don't cry
    Shots? I don't cry
    Ear Piercing? I cried.

    I think you're doing a GREAT job!

    Bless her little heart! What a wonderful girl!

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  8. She LOOKS ready to go in that picture! Glad she enjoyed it so much that she didn't want to go home.

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  9. Such a cutie! Glad she liked her first day of school and no tears. The throwing up thing, I think she called it perfectly. I know my stomach has betrayed me in times of excitement or stress.

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  10. I'm glad she had a good first day--you know, vomiting aside. My Elvis starts kindergarten next week, and I am dreading it. Only I'll be sending him on the bus, so all the clinging--his and mine--will be done there, instead of the classroom. My oldest wouldn't let me leave when we took her to kindergarten--which was bizarro, because she was always totally independent, never clingy, NEVER. That day she wasn't really clingy, though, just disagreeable and not wanting to stay at school. And thus our troubles began! My second child also had a hard time letting go of us on his first day, but at least he wanted to be there. (He was always the clingiest, so I was surprised he let us leave him there at all.) Anyway, good for Miss Pink! I hope all her other kindergarten days are vomit-free.

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  11. Give them a piece of bread and throw them to the bears? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

    She looks adorable. My teeth are killing me.

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