A day of firsts...the first day of first grade

Last night when I was tucking Spencer into bed, I was telling him about all the things that were going to happen today. The first day of school. Riding the bus. Being at school all day. Eating lunch at school. When he realized that he got to ride the bus to and from school and eat lunch in the cafeteria with his friends and get his food from the hot lunch line on a tray -- he told me "Mom, I am SO excited about all of those things!" It was a good way to go to bed.

I had to wake him up this morning. I had to wake ALL of the kids up this morning. They have been so good about sleeping in all summer. It seemed a sort of sacrilege, but had to be done. He got ready for school quickly, got himself dressed, brushed his teeth, ate his breakfast and was ready to head for the bus way before the time we had to leave. This is very rare for Spencer - not unlike his Dad, quickly is not a word in his vocabulary.

We walked down to the bus stop and he saw some kids he knew. The bus arrived and he ran up the steps without a second glance. He could not wait to get his day started. That was fine with me. I would much rather have that than a clingy, crying mess that has to be pried off of my leg onto the bus.

The day was strange without him here. I kept thinking that someone was missing. Well, someone WAS, but it was very odd to only have two kids to deal with all day long. I think Evan missed having him around. Evan is the kind of kid that wants to "play" something with someone all the time. Without Spence here, he kept asking me to play stuff with him. We played ball and dinosaurs and ran some errands, but I felt bad having to turn him down so that I could get some necessary stuff done around the house. I am sure things will be different once he starts school next week. Hopefully his days home will be his time to kick back and maybe he will meet some nice kids that he can have over on play dates.

The big things that I was worried about were that Spencer would not know which bus to get on for the ride home and/or that he would get off the bus with a buddy without even thinking about the fact that we were waiting for him at home. He did not get off with a buddy, but he did have some problems finding the correct bus to take home. I guess he panicked a little and began to cry because he didn't know what to do. Last year when he rode the bus home, there was only one choice - one bus to get on that all the kindergartners rode and it took him right home to our door. This year, there are probably eight to ten buses lined up - I don't blame him for freaking out a bit. I didn't know what bus to take home when I was a sophomore in high school - seriously - this little guy is only seven! He did the totally right thing and told the principal that he didn't know where to go and the principal and a friend of Evan's from our neighborhood and his older sister who ride the same bus helped him out as well. Thank you Alison and Owen! When he got off the bus, we were waiting for him and he asked me "Mom, did I get on the right bus?" Um, honey? We are standing right here - what do you think? I felt bad for him. When he was telling me the bus saga he started to get all choked up and told me that he just wanted me to be there. My big grown up guy still needs his Mom sometimes!

All in all, he had more positives than negatives so it was a good day! He likes his new teacher and got a desk by a good friend. He got in the Multi-age class which is basically a way to label kids without "really" labeling them - since you educationally are not supposed to have "good" kids with other "good" kids. No more Snoopy groups for reading. A Linus should be with a Snoopy dragging them down. Which is good for the Linus, but positively stifling for the Snoopy. I am sure I have lost the majority of anyone reading this blog - but that is how reading groups were formed back in my day. Label city. So I think he will thrive in his new class. We are really excited. He seemed extremely tired when he got home. A good hard day of learning.


This is his new backpack. He went through three of the cheapies last year so this year we invested in a good one from Lands End. The cost is equal to three of the cheap ones but will hopefully last us at least two or three years - hopefully more. Of all the embroidery choices, he chose the kitty. Get ready for some more kitty creative writing stories - the love of cats has not waned.
The only "request" he had during back to school shopping was some Sketchers. I think he was envisioning the light up, air cushion ones. These were half price on clearance. The way he loses things - they are good enough. They are still Sketchers. I guess I still have to get used to the fact that I have two boys. They may not care about the "cool" clothes, but chances are, they will care about their tennis shoes.

Little bro and sis all bundled in the Burley with their sippys of milk ready to wish good thoughts to their big brother on his first day. Hailey was excited. I think Evan just wanted to go back to sleep.