First Day

The day has come.

Johnny went to his first day of school.

He knew the drill,

he's been shadowing Alex for the last couple of years.

My kids were ready to head to the bus and hour early. I think the bus was a great distraction for Johnny so he didn't have to think much about starting school. All he could think about was riding the bus, without his Mom, on his way to school, that he was going to be attending! To him, it doesn't get much better than that. He has asked at the beginning of each year if he could go on the bus with Alex and now his day had come. To save on funds, our convenient bus stop a block from our house was taken off the route. So the kids couldn't see the bus stop and were convinced everyone else was out there waiting and they were missing out on "all the fun". I could only hold them off for so long so instead of waiting at home we waited on the corner in the front of the subdivision. First ones there of course. A tad too cold to be wearing shorts and standing still. Oh course I followed them over to the school and was there when they got off the bus. Johnny quickly lined up against the wall next to his classroom and Alex took off to find her own. I called out to my independent daughter and asked for a goodbye hug which she willingly handed out before she raced back off to join the crowd. I barely had time to take a few pictures, all of which Johnny was wiggling too much, obviously wanting me to stop taking pictures. So I put the camera away and watched as this monumental event became quite anticlimactic. No puppy dog eyes, no final hug before entering the classroom door, only one big grin through the doorway as I worked to make eye contact. He was excited and knew it was his turn to finally grow up. I wonder if he's always acted so insecure and immature because he thought it was expected of him. But now that people are calling him a Kindergartner there is a feeling of expectation that he can't deny.

Oh and can I say, "sweet sweet freedom".....