First day of Kindergarten

Well, let me tell you... the things they don't tell you when you send your kid off to school for the first time.

First and foremost, when you deliver your first born child to a bunch of strangers at an elementary school, it is EXTREMELY emotional. I did not ever expect to be tearing up in a gym when I left my daughter for her first day. 

Admittedly, I feared on the first day of school, that I would be getting THAT call; that either kid pushed another kid, they pooped their pants, they said a curse word, or they pulled the fire alarm. I had multiple worries literally running through my head that day. Thankfully, I did not get that call. 

When I came home after her first day, there were a ton of questions that we asked our daughter. How was your first day? What did you learn? What did you eat for lunch? Did you have fun at recess? Who did you play with? Do you like your teacher?

To think about how she felt in that moment to be grilled by her parents, was probably pretty overwhelming. Thankfully, she had a good day, she ate tacos for lunch, and had a blast at recess. That was really about all she could remember.

So to think, we are now two weeks into school, and I see an email from her teacher today. My stomach dropped because it was labeled "Mira in Kindergarten". Uh oh, what'd we do? (Why is it so natural to be immediately on the defense?) We have these fears as parents, that no matter how hard we try, we worry that we've probably already messed up our kids for good. Like, these children don't come with a handbook! But for real, it's too bad child psychology is not taught in high school, that we can have a basic understanding about childhood development. 

I do have to brag for a second, because these first two weeks have literally been a whirlwind. That email I received was literally one of the most heartfelt emails I have read, and it makes me so excited for the 18+ years to come. Even if she is still shocked at how long she has to be in school for. This is one of those emails that I will for sure be forwarding to her personal email for her to read when she's old enough to understand how email works. 

Lastly, who knew that planning for school pickup/drop-offs would be so important! Let's randomly throw in teacher plan days when kids need to be picked up at the erroneous 1:33pm, on top of all the extra-curricular activities, working full time, going to the gym three days a week, homework etc. etc.. I mean, we have to manage our family's calendar like no one's business now. Oh, and also making sure there's money in the account for school lunches! Did I forget anything else? Probably, it'll most likely smack me in the face when I'm least expecting it. 

Ultimately, I am sooo thankful for the teachers and administration in our district, and everything they put up with. My struggles boil down to that parenting is hard, but yet so rewarding. Each stage of parenting has its own set of challenges, and we all have to learn to adapt. I now have a much greater appreciation for parents who have children in school, not to mention those with multiple kids in school. Thankfully our youngest has a few years before she starts school, so we'll have some time to adjust. ;)

Parents, do me a favor, make sure to document all of the stages in life. There will be a moment that you wish you had, but it slowly faded. I know with how crazy busy life is, I have an extremely difficult time remembering past moments. Do not miss it, because these moments make up your world. Let's make it a great 2019-2020 school year! Don't forget to book your fall family session.