Our first day of school finally arrived! We awoke bright & early in the morning to a rainy, gray, "overcasty" type of day. Not the picture-perfect-day I had in mind for my first child's first day of kindergarten. "Grumpy pants" did not want to get out of bed and was rather put-out that I even thought about waking him for this special day. A glass of juice & three pieces of toast later seemed to take a little of the edge off.
Out the door we went for our trip to school. Three minutes later we arrived & most of the grumpy had worn off.
Hand in hand we dodged rain drops while pride swelled inside like the rising puddles around our ankles. OUR BIG BOY IS OFF TO SCHOOL!!! We stopped for some pictures outside under the breezeway before joining the chaos in the hallways. More pictures ensued after we bobbed & weaved between strollers & backpacks & kids & parents. Jaykob found his classroom like it was something he had done everyday for a semester. Mrs. Clayton had placed a special toy on the desk for each child- a baby rabbit attached to his momma, rather fitting for the situation at hand I thought! After a quick hug and kiss followed by a last minute wave at the door, we bravely exited the classroom.
The seventy yards down the hall and out the door seemed like a mile. It was a hallway filled with memories of holding a newborn all snuggly warm & gentle. A little baby wearily taking his first step & subsequent tumble. A toddler wanting so badly to reach something off of the
counter that is slightly out of reach. A young child squirming just before getting stitches after his tumble off the sit & spin. A growing boy sweating in the sand box. Where did it all go? Is he really old enough to be so big? Where does he get his bravery? As I pondered all of this, I knew in an instant. From the strong man that our little boy calls "Daddy".
The rain that met us at the door of the school washed off the tears that had tumbled down & by the time I had reached the car, I was okay knowing full well that we had raised a confident young boy who was not afraid of a new adventure called Kindergarten.
