1st day of school

The air was cold and the sun wasn't quite up when Ali came into my room at 6:30 ready for school. She dressed in her new clothes which of course means that she had to wear butterflies and then lay back down on her bed. For whatever reason her stomach hurt and she said she was hungry. I quickly did her hair and then we went upstairs to eat. I made french toast for breakfast to celebrate the day while Ali laid down on the couch silently. At breakfast she didn't say much and kept laying her head down on the counter. I wondered where my usual bubbly talkative Ali went and was sure she must be deathly ill. She didn't eat hardly anything. I asked her if she was nervous and she insisted she wasn't. After breakfast she still was laying on the couch while I got her lunch ready. I decided to call Cameron and see what he thought. He said it was probably just nerves and that she would be fine. I then told Ali that I would take her to her classroom and stay with her until she asked me to leave. Those must have been the magic words because she perked right up and we were able to take smiling first day of school pictures.

At school we saw her teacher from last year as we walked down the hall. It seemed to be a good omen for Ali and she hugged Mrs. Malcom like a long lost friend. I had forgot to mention to Ali that her teacher this year is Mrs. Malcom's sister and it seemed to help her warm up to the idea of school. We waited outside her teacher's door and then went in to her classroom. Ali has 7 girls and 12 boys in her class. We found her desk and Ali sat right down to do her work. She was still very quiet and overly calm compared to her normal self. All the parents sat at the edge of the classroom wondering if we should really leave our babies for a whole day of school.

It seemed even harder to leave her this year than last year since she seemed so nervous. But at last she told me I could leave and I took that as my dismissal and left to enjoy a day with just Ashling and me. We went to the gym, went grocery shopping, played cars, read stories, took a nap and just enjoyed each other.

Ashling and I walked to Ali's bus stop to pick her up. When the bus came I saw Ali waving and she waited her turn patiently to come off the bus. She talked to two or three kids all much bigger than her on the way out. She had a huge smile on her face and reported that she already loves her teacher because she is so nice. She made friends with her desk-mate, Nick, and played at recess with everyone. Apparently her nerves are over and now she will just enjoy school.

The bad news is that Cameron figured out that the outside influences on our daughter are 8/5. We only get 5 hours with her and the school gets her for 8! I hope we have raised her right so far!