First day

Today was Jay’s first day of kindergarten! He was so excited this morning it was hard for him to wait all the way till the 8:55am start time of his school. I squirted water in his hair to tame the bedhead and helped him pick out coordinating clothing. We packed a lunch in his beloved R2D2 lunchbox. We put his all-about-me paper in his trusty monkey backpack. The boy was ready. [The mom was not!]

Here’s Jay’s excited face. He said: “I love this day! I’m so excited for kindergarten!”

 

We drove the half mile to Harriet Thompson Elementary (since walking still exhausts my pregnant body).

We walked into the school. Rose and I signed in and donned “visitor” stickers and walked into the school with Jay to help him find his classroom.

We said hello to Miss Hollowell and watched her help Jay hang his backpack up. Then she directed Jay to his seat and gave him a nametag. He decided that he wants to be called Joseph at school, even though he can’t write it and he’s never been called that before. It’s so funny to me—I wonder if he’ll keep it up or if he’ll want to go by Jay at school before long. He seems to like the secret-identity feel of his real name at school, because he made it clear that he still wants us to call him Jay at home. Jay immediately showed his loose tooth to his teacher. Then I dashed across the room, took a quick blurry picture, hugged and kissed Jay, and then left with Rose. Without Jay.

I managed to stay on top of the wave of emotion through the school hallway and on the car drive home. When I walked into the house, though, the first thing I saw was Jay’s favorite manky yellow blanket laying on the floor where he had left it. That did it. The tears started flowing. My sweet little JAY! Away at school for six and a half hours! Rose waltzed straight into the playroom when we got home and started playing with Legos. She seemed happy until about half an hour later when she came upstairs and asked “how long till Jay comes home?” Soon after that I pulled myself together, turned on some soothing Piano Guys music, and cleaned the kitchen. It made me feel better. Rose sat at the counter, listened to the music, and watched me clean. She was my little companion for most of the day—I’m not sure she knew what to do without Jay around either! We both took turns saying “I miss Jay!” all day. Our house felt so quiet and empty without Jay’s constant chatter and endless flow of questions. I wonder if Rose will start talking more or if we’ll just be quiet together.

Rose and I, wearing our matching apple visitor stickers from the school, and trying to smile through our Jay-pangs.

Around 3:10pm we got into the van and went to pick up the school boy Jay. The carpool madness is definitely not going to be my favorite part of school. I hope I can start walking at least part of the way soon! Luckily Jeff plans to pick Jay up 3 days a week. Having a teacher for a husband has SO many perks, as I’m sure I’ve mentioned before.

Jay was so satisfied with himself for finally Going to School. He told us all about how they went on a hunt for the gingerbread man. That’s how the teacher showed them around the school: she read them a story about the gingerbread man and they went all over the school “looking” for it, while learning the lay of the land in the process.

They stopped at each place and took a picture of the class (there was just half the class there today). Then they made this little project. I have already decided to dedicate a wall to hanging up Jay’s school papers. He’s never done much with paper before now, and Rose colors on the same page for so long that I’ve never really hung up any of their art. Now it will happen! I love kids’ creations!

Jay said he got to play on the playground and he especially pointed out: “and nobody bullied me!” GOOD THING!

We were all so happy to have Jay back home again. As I suspected it would, the afternoon between getting home from school and dinner time felt very short. I made sure to sneak in a few extra Jay hugs and kisses this evening.

And we get to do it all again tomorrow.
[Hopefully minus the tears on my part]