FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

So - it's the first day of school. I know most of you are thinking, what?!? It's only August 4...didn't summer just start?! Frankly, I thought the same thing when I saw the school calendar. Geesh, as I type this I can hear the Today Show in the background reviewing the best outdoor summer toys for kids! Anyhoo - guess no one told them that here in the desert we like to start school in August. To be clear, it's not that we have more school days, they just take more breaks during the school year. For example, we have a Fall Break in October - 1 week, we have Thanksgiving Break in Nov - 2days, we have Christmas/New Year Break in Dec/Jan - 2 weeks, Rodeo Break (yes, we close our schools for Rodeo - not for President's Day - Rodeo?!?! Only in the desert I guess...) in Feb - 2 days, Spring Break in March - 1 week, school's out before Memorial Day - May.

Anyhoo, I digress...so today my baby's marched off to their first day of pre-kindergarten and first grade! Excitement filled the house and the breakfast table this morning. Ryan, who must have been the most anxious...oh I mean excited, woke up at 5am...ready to get the day started. He has been asking since last Wed. if TODAY was the day he got to go to school. He's at the same preschool he attended last year and upon arrival happily skipped off with his friends. Pretty uneventful really.

Jack woke up at his usual time - 6:30...seemed quiet, but excited. They had both laid out their special new clothes last night, shoes included. He got himself dressed, had breakfast and after a few pictures was ready to go. This was Jack's first day of first grade at the new school. 800 kids!!! That's a change from preschool and kindergarten he attended with less than 100. So, my anxiety level was at least as high (probably higher to be honest) than his. After parking a mile from the school and walking all of those heavy school supplies to his class, Jack seemed relieved to be there. He knows one student in his class already, so it was nice to see a familiar face. We briefly met his teacher last Friday - so that's another friendly face. So, after sitting Jack down and dropping off the 20 lbs of school supplies, I was just supposed to quietly say good-bye and slip out...according to the instructions on the board. Holy cow...that's it?? Drop him off and leave. Ok, so I did it, but left in a haze, thinking, now what do I do? Go home? (I had taken the day off to be able to drop off and pick up the kiddos on their first day). It was a strange feeling, wandering out of the school yard...leaving my 6 year old in a gigantic new place, but then a friendly face spotted me. A friend of mine with a 1st and 3rd grader chatted with me about his teacher and the cafeteria protocol, etc. It was a good rescue...from my wanderings.

So, we'll see...in 5 short hours how the first day went. More later....