Choked Up

Oh man, I thought I was ready for this....even looking forward to it a bit (we tend to frustrate each other), but today, when we walked into the auditorium where all the elementary kids gather in the morning, I had to work hard to choke back tears. This is my baby, my buddy, the one who went on afternoon walks with me and chatted with me through the grocery store. Now she's a kindergartner!!

She has not been terribly excited about this day until last night when she set out her clothes, placed her shoes and and backpack by the door and insisted on helping make her lunch. This morning she was checking with her sister about all the rules in kindergarten, very concerned that she not break any (and breaking my heart with that worry).

So off she went, sporting a special back to school shirt that I made for her, my little horse lover. She specified a green shirt so that the horse would have grass around it and I let her pick out the fabric for the horse. I offered lots of bright, colorful options but she insisted on this pale yellow when we couldn't find a good brown (??) in my stash. It made me feel good sending her off with a bit of momma-made love - I hope it made her happy too.

Oh, but don't think they waved good-bye and were gone. Noooooo. Thankfully we have a great phase-in program and the parents actually spent the morning in the classroom participating with the kids. And no, there are not seven kids in her class either - they break the classes up into thirds and bring one third in each day for the first two weeks. She won't go again until next Friday and will meet up with the rest of her class the following Monday when the fun really begins!

She seemed so much more comfortable and cool with it all than I had anticipated. She's really stepping up to be the big girl, which we have been stressing this summer. Perhaps someone let her be the baby a bit too long. She met some new friends today and will have several classmates from her preschool in her class as well as one more special friend that she's known since Rachel started kindergarten.

So one more week of me and my buddy and then I really will have to wave good-bye and leave. Hopefully my hormones will be in check by then!

Oh, and it's just really too darn hot. Too hot for school, too hot for anything. Granted, this was just as we turned the car on, and the temp. dropped, but still...I don't think I've ever seen this temperature before in my life!