First First Day of School

It's official, A.J. is in Kindergarten. Whoa! I've been looking forward to this day as a chance for some mommy time and a chance for A.J. to learn and grow, but I don't think I was really prepared for this day.

It started yesterday when we went shoe shopping. In late June, I bought him some sandals and dressier casual shoes and I bought size 2 and they were plenty big. I figured it had only been two months and 2s would probably be about right. Wrong! He needed a size 3! I got a little emotional thinking that I was sending my baby to kindergarten in size 3 shoes! He is just getting so big!

I definitely wasn't prepared for the terror I felt sending him off through the kindergarten doors. When he started preschool, I was a little sad about the milestone. But preschool was a small, safe environment. Miss Kathy loved A.J. and it was easy for me to leave him at her home for a few hours a couple of days a week.

Kindergarten is huge! So many kids, so many outside influences on A.J. that I have no control over. (Uh oh! I sound like a control freak!) I've heard A.J.'s teacher is wonderful and just what he needs, but will she love A.J.? A.J. said he was going to tie me to his backpack so I had to go with him. I almost agreed, but didn't want to make a bad impression on the teacher the first day.

Hopefully, I am just a first time mom going through normal first day jitters. A.J. survived the day and even made three friends. When I picked him up from school, he was with a little boy who is about half his size. I asked A.J. later what his name was and he told me he didn't know but that he called him Buddy.

His teacher did say that he had a little trouble today and three time outs for goofing off and being silly when it was time for an activity. Hopefully he will settle down and get into the classroom routine quickly. Otherwise we'll be spending a lot of time with the principal I'm afraid over the next 13 years!