Bittersweet

Today was the first day of school. Two weeks ago, I was more than ready for this day to come. Having all three kids at home can get pretty tiring, especially when the two oldest start fighting like cats and dogs on a way-too-regular basis. But last night, as we sat on the brink of First Grade, I started feeling a little sad about the whole thing. My eldest leaving me for all-day school! My Ba-by! Agh! I was actually surprised by the emotions I felt. I was expecting a lot more excitement from myself. Something along these lines (click it, it's worth it):



So I went to bed with a lot on my mind and did not sleep very well. Our alarm went off at 6:30 (school starts at 8:12... quite a difference from her noon kindergarten!). We hit snooze, of course, but there was no point since Natalie was by my side at 6:31, "Is it morning? I heard your alarm." She was pretty excited to get the day started.

For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to have a special First Day of School Breakfast. Like I didn't have enough to stress over. But, I forged ahead and made pancakes while Jay cooked up some bacon, and we all enjoyed a nice warm breakfast instead of the cold cereal they usually get. Well, they enjoyed it. I shoved down a pancake without taking time to chew so that I could make Natalie's lunch and pack it in her new cupcake lunch box.

After posing for a few Back to School pictures, the whole gang walked to the school. It was a gorgeous morning, and I felt my spirits rising. Natalie was excited, which was a big help. The school was a zoo, of course, but we found her classroom without a problem. I met the teacher, and Natalie found her desk, right next to a friend from kindergarten. Oh my, was the classroom cute. It was almost enough to make me want to go back to school to become a teacher. Almost.

And then we left, and Natalie began the exciting world of First Grade.

This afternoon when I picked her up, I asked the typical "How was your first day?" question, and was elated by her reponse. "It was SO much fun," she said. Yes! I was so glad she didn't come home sobbing. Well.... actually... there were a few tears when she told me about recess: "Connor and I played Space and then we decided to play Princess and we asked Summer to play. But Summer and I were fighting over who got to be the queen, so Summer said let's play Rock Paper Scissors, but I don't know how to play so I didn't do very well (tears starting) and so (big sob) I lost and didn't get to be the queen!!!" She was so upset about not knowing how to play Rock Paper Scissors that I felt like a loser parent for not teaching her such an essential playground tool sooner. What was I thinking?! I hugged her and promised that I would teach her how to play right away. [So, yeah, watch out Van Tassell's!!! ;)]

Overall, it was a successful day. I can't believe we have to do it all again tomorrow (although minus pancakes). Let the school year craziness begin!