The First Day of School

It was a crisp, really almost a cold, fall morning as we woke up. The kind of morning where it is hard to get out of bed because it is so cold but where later the sun will burn with its warmth. When Ali woke up she asked what time it was and when she was told 6:45 she said, "Oh I am supposed to get up but I am just going to lay here and let my open up a little bit." It didn't take long and she was out of bed and into the clothes she had chosen to wear. Soon we were ready to school.

She seemed seasoned. She knew what we were doing and she was not scared. She did hold my hand and appreciated me walking her inside but she was calm and confident. We walked into her classroom and it felt safe and comfortable. A new home for the new year. There were rows of desks instead of tables and her desk was not labeled with her name on it. We examined the classroom library filled with chapter books, not picture books. There was a small futon which Ali claimed as the most comfortable seat in the room. "This is my seat, for when I am finished with my work." We met her teacher and I felt comfortable and excited to learn what this woman would teach.

The new books on her desk, the new crayons and pencils in her back pack and the books of the reading library beckoned me and I was more than a little jealous of the new beginning as I left her. Isn't the first day of school the best?