Turning the page

Oddly enough, it felt like today came up from out of nowhere. We've been anticipating Noah's first day of Kindergarten for a long time, but still it seemed like it was suddenly here. Suddenly, our schedule and way of thinking is having to change. Lucky for us, Noah was excited to start school, although he was pretty emotionless this morning while he didn't eat his cereal.

It got a bit chaotic at our house just before we needed to leave and I wanted to snap the traditional first day of school picture outside our front door but this was as good as it got. The boys were wiggle worms and time was ticking away.

At least I got this photo of Noah once we got to school.

Just inside the door we found grandma and several other familiar faces. Since Noah was a Kindergartner he was allowed to go to his classroom a bit earlier then the bigger kids. The teachers were busy with other kids, so I got to help Noah find his hook and name tag.

And then we found his seat.

Here's Noah's teacher, Mrs. Janzen. She was my first grade teacher.

And this is Mrs. Booton an aide in the Kindergarten room.

Kids and parents piled in. All the kids seemed eager and ready for a new adventure. It was a fun space to be in this morning.

So, it was time for me to leave. Just before I left, Noah asked me to stay, but he said it very quietly and I reassured him that he was surrounded by friends.

It feels like a significant page has been turned and that there's no turning back. We've got a kid in school. Soon it will become normal and the feelings I have today will be forgotten. Thankfully, I held my emotions in until I made it out of his classroom. But then I ran into my mom and Noah's music teacher and somehow I couldn't keep the tears away. It wasn't hard to leave him there. I trust everyone in his school and I know he'll do great and have a wonderful time. I think the emotions come because now I have to start learning to let go more than I've ever had to.

The good news is that Noah had a wonderful morning at school. He had PE, music, milk break (chocolate milk!), learned about his classroom and had time to play. He gave school an enthusiastic thumbs up and is very willing to go back tomorrow!