1st grade
i have been saying for a few weeks now that i am not prepared for 1st grade. amelia will be gone all day. all day! she won’t be here for errand running, which will honestly make it easier. she won’t be here at lunch time, which means preparing less food and wiping one less messy face, though she doesn’t eat too much and she’s a pretty neat eater. but i am going to miss her.
last night at church we had a few minutes together, just she and i. we were walking and holding hands, swinging our arms. i squeezed her hand a little, looked down at her, and had a tear in my eye. “what?”, she said. “i am not ready for first grade,” i said, “i am going to miss you.” she smiled, “i’ll be back.” “i know you will,” i told her, “but you won’t be home for lunch. it will be just me and the stinky boys.” she smiled again, “well, you can just put them in their room if they are having too much gas.” oh, a little bit of joy, and a little bit of sadness.
this morning she was up early. she ate breakfast while i packed her backpack. she put on her dress and fancy shoes(ones that would be reserved for lunch at grammy’s or something special at church). we did her hair, part up, part down, and added two yellow ribbons. we took lots of pictures, with daddy, with me, with the boys. she put on her backpack and told us it was too heavy, but just a little bit. she and i headed for the van.
we prayed on our way to school. i thanked Jesus for the gorgeous weather(it’s 66 and sunny) He has given us for the first day of 1st grade. i asked Him to help amelia have fun. to help her enjoy the friends she knows and to get to know new ones. i asked Him to help her to remember to behave well and to obey her teacher. and i asked Him to help her remember that she belongs to Him. right as i was saying amen, we pulled up to school. it was busy!
we made our way to the playground where all of the kids(and some parents) were lining up, waiting to head inside to their new classrooms. we found ‘our line’ and made it to the end. right in front of us was a boy from amelia’s kindergarten class. they were both excited to see each other. on our way into the school we spotted another friend from kindergarten and once inside the classroom, another friend from church. this eased my nerves.
i know she’s fine. i know she’ll be fine. it’s just my heart is a little sad. and i am already looking forward to school ending today so she can tell me all about it.
in pictures-from just after waking up, to sitting at her 1st grade desk.
