First Day of Kindergarten

There. I wrote it. Kindergarten. My baby went to Kindergarten today. Kindergarten, Kindergarten, Kindergarten. Look at me go!Just yesterday, I couldn’t make my fingers strike the keys and today I’m typing Kindergarten like a pro.

What a difference 24 hours has made for me and for Molly!

WARNING: Most of today’s pictures look just like yesterday’s pictures except Molly is wearing a different dress. But it’s my kid and my blog so I say: Redundancy be darned!

The day started out just like yesterday. Molly posed for pictures in her new dress….

…and showed off her new backpack….

and then the showed the dress and backpack combination.

Later, we moved outside for a leaving the house picture (with the dress and backpack).

On the way to school, I got the first sign that things were going to be fine. Molly asked me why it was taking sooooo long to get to school. The school is five minutes away.

Hmmm, maybe she’s excited???

Then she asked why she couldn’t ride the bus to school like the other kids. I explained that she is my baby and she only has one First Day of Elementary School in her entire life. I did not plan on missing it. She could ride the bus home. She could ride it to school every. single. day. this year, but today, I was driving her.

Once we were out of the car she was off and running. Well, walking. Quickly. Ahead of her mother who wanted to be there to witness the one and only First Day of Elementary School.

She agreed to pose for a picture outside the front door. I was relieved to see her in a much more relaxed mood.

I actually got a spontaneous smile at the front doors of the school. This might go very well. There is only one thing that could derail things now. But surly that won’t happen, will it? We stepped inside the building. And that’s where we came face-to-face with my greatest fear: a crier. Poor little thing. She was so upset at the prospect of leaving her Mommy.

I felt bad, really I did, but I didn’t need Molly seeing this little cherub crying or the waterworks might start for her.

I had to divert.

“Molly, let’s go in the library. They have a stuffed Clifford! We can take a picture!”

And more diverting….”Ooooh, Molly, Look at all of the cool stuffed animals from your favorite stories. Llama Llama Red Pajama! If You Give a Mouse A Cookie! Click Clack Moo, Cows That Type!”

Once I didn’t hear anymore crying, we ventured out into the hallway. Crisis averted.

The school staff was in the foyer of the school, greeting the kids and walking them to their classrooms.  I am sure it was to reduce the amount of separation anxiety. Good Idea, I thought, but I will miss out on photo-ops. Darn.

Molly was grouped with a little boy from her class. When the staff member came to get them Molly gave me a kiss and hug and a “Goodbye Mom!” and she was good to go.

Except that’s precisely the time that the little boy standing with Molly started to cry. No, bawl. Wail. Scream for his Mom. Ugh! Two criers. This might be more that Molly could stand.

I looked at Molly and told her that he looked sad, and that she should walk with him so that he wasn’t so scared.

And you know what? It worked!

Off she went, down the hall with the crier. Despite the look on her face in this picture, she was very excited. She even turned back and gave me an excited wave a couple of times. My big girl!

There she goes. Not even a tear shed. Except by me. As expected.

When school was over, I met Molly at the bus stop. She was over the moon about her first bus ride!

She gave me a little curtsy before disembarking, then I got a big hug and the jabbering began. I got a play-by-play of the entire day.

At home, Molly enjoyed cookies and milk and a special little surprise.

The Sound of Music! Molly is into wedding dresses, veils and brides. The Sound of Music has a great wedding scene

After snack, Molly showed off her schoolwork.

And now, I’ll show off her schoolwork!

We ended the day with a trip to Molly’s favorite restaurant for a little Chinese food.

She wanted on last picture by the fish pond before we left the restaurant because, “It looks Chinese, and I’m Chinese, Mom.”

And that was that. The first day of Kindergarten was in the can. Done. Finis.

My little baby is growing up. First, she old enough to go to kindergarten and then she gets all mature on me and has a seamless transition into the school year.

Next thing you know she’ll be getting braces or driving a car or some other crazy grown-up-girl thing.

I am so very proud of you Miss Molly!

Would Somebody Please Explain How We Got From Point A to Point B So Quickly?

Remember this day? The day that my chubby-cheeked little girl was placed in my arms for the very first time. Look at her….she’s a BABY.How did we go from this ….to this…so darn quickly?

I’m serious. She was a baby yesterday. Really, she was. I know, I’m her mother.

And now she is all grown up.

And we are doing things like this…Shopping for school supplies!

And you know where all that kind of madness leads, don’t you? That’s right. School!

I can’t take it. Really, I can’t.

Today was Molly’s K Orientation. See, I can’t even right the word out yet. I just have to put K. It’s like if I write it down, this whole thing is actually going to happen. Which it isn’t. Because I am going to wake up in a few minutes and get Molly out of her crib and feed her a bottle.

This whole school thing is going to just be a bad dream.

Just wait and see.

Well, okay, maybe it’s not a dream and maybe Molly is going to K, but I don’t have to like it. I hope Molly does though, because if she doesn’t, life is not going to be very much fun for any of us for a while.

Today’s orientation gave me a reason to pause. I’m not sure how the whole idea of school is sitting with Molly.

The day started out just fine. Molly modeled her new backpack…

and her new outfit, and was just a happy as a lark. If larks are indeed happy. I’m not quite sure.

Once we made it to school, the smile became bit more tight-lipped.

And by the time we got to the front door, Molly wouldn’t even smile.

Once we arrived at the orientation, she wanted to sit on my lap. She asked if she could suck her fingers. I told her that K-ers (still can’t write it) sit in their own seats and have to wait until they get home before they can suck their fingers.

Then my heart broke just a little.

But Molly dutifully minded me and then the principal when she was asked to sit up in group for a story. She looked stressed though.

After the meeting with the principal, we were dismissed to the computer lab to work on a craft. Molly wouldn’t look at the camera and had the clenched jaw that told me she was nervous. But she completed the craft as she was instructed. My little trooper.

Here’s another Mollyism: When she is stressed, she picks at her lower lip with her pinky finger. Seriously. She’s done it since she was a baby.

She agreed to smile for this picture, but momma knows this is the pursed-lip smile that indicates trouble’s-a-brewin’.

Next was bus safety class. Molly has loved buses forever. We hunt for busses on the road. We keep tallies of how many busses we see on each car ride. We check to see if the each bus has a boy driver or girl driver. And then we keep a tally of that stat, as well.

This should have been a time of joy for my gal, but she wouldn’t even look at the camera.

She practiced walking to the safe spot….

…with this lovely look of excitement plastered on her face.

Back on the bus, I get another clenched-jaw smile.

After bus safety, we went to Molly’s classroom to meet her teacher. Hard to believe, but I forgot to take a picture there. Molly had to do an assessment in the classroom and I was relegated to the hallway to fill out paperwork. I missed the photo op.

Tomorrow is the first real day of the K-word, and I have to say that I am not quite sure how it will go. Molly was visibly nervous, but she didn’t crack.

When we got home, she drew this picture for her teacher: Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. She even taped a dinosaur to the corner if the picture. The teacher must have made a pretty good impression to warrant such special treatment.

Day one of the K-word could go either way. I guess we’ll have to wait and see. Good or bad, I can guarantee that there will be tears tomorrow.

Mine.

End of Summer Pool Party

I can’t believe that summer is over. Just a few more days until school starts and then it’s gone. Done. Finished.

Sniff, sniff.

I LOVE summer. Adore it. Live for it. Dream about it. And it is over.

Sigh.

The China Friends playgroup had one last sha-bang before we had to say good-bye to bathing suits and flip flops.

This won’t be a long post because I am in mourning, ya know, about the whole end of summer thing.

Here are the pool party pics:

Molly in her element. She’s a fish, without a doubt.

Trying to climb on the big seal floatie. A challenge, but she mastered it before the party was over.

The whole gang in the drink.

Molly couldn’t drag herself out of the pool to eat dinner with the other kids. She stayed in and swam. Later in the evening, hunger finally overtook her and she came out and asked for food.

Do you think she is having a good time?

More fun!

Special Bonus Material…We recently attended a cookout for Tony’s work. Molly and I made brownies and you-know-who licked the bowl clean.