One Day Down, 13 Years to Go

LP was so super excited for her first day of school that she jumped out of bed from a dead sleep and began running around her room in a spin to get ready.

As she grabbed her clothes she yelled to me, "Mom! Can you make me a chocolate chip waffle? I will be down in a minute!"

As I warmed up the waffle she put on her new light-up sneakers.

When she finished her breakfast she was ready to hit the porch. I reminded her the bus didn't come for another 55 minutes and recommended that she pee and brush her teeth - which she did in record time.

At 7:35 she was again ready to wait on our (fortunately covered) front porch in the rain.

Finally at 8:20 we all moved to the porch to wait. When the bus came and the Hoos walked with her to the end of our driveway, she would barely slow down to give him a kiss. And then she got on the bus and didn't turn back.

And then I cried.

Okay, not really. Then we jumped in our cars and went over to the school to watch her get off the bus. We were not the only people to do this - and we probably wouldn't have, except our across the street neighbors (who share our bus stop) were going.

At this point, I must note that a lot of parents are crazy. We might be a little wacky, but we were not there to make our kid cry. We were there so we could cry. And see how big she looked getting off the bus (and man, did she ever, hiking her new backpack up as she climbed down the bus stairs). Other parents? They got in their kids' faces to take pictures. LP didn't even know - or care - that we were there.

Of course, she did great. She didn't give me too many details, but she told me that you can buy a bagel for lunch and not just the hot lunch (none of which sounded appealing to her). She also told me that she shares a locker and her teacher is nice and that she needs a water cup for snack time. Oh, and that the classroom has its own bathroom. And you don't even have to ask the teacher if you need to use it, you can just get up and go. And because there is no lock on the door, there is a sign on the doorknob that says "stop" on one side and "go" on the other. And that there are some "really young kids" in her class. And she knows they are young because they are "so little". Then she sat on the couch and ate lots of snacks (because being in kindergarten is hard work).

AK is doing great at her new program too. Today was the first day she cried at drop off, but in general she likes the teachers and the kids. Both of my kids are super-troopers. I definitely lucked out in that department - which, I guess, should make up for not having power for a week. But that's another story.