Isabelle's big day

Now that it's over, I have to say that this day was easier than I imagined it would be.

Say "Kindergarten"!

We drove to school....



And waited in the cafeteria to be called.



Then we walked down to the gym to be sorted (kind of like The Sorting in Harry Potter) into groups. Today was all about screening...speech pathology, hearing, etc. There are 5 kindergarten classes: Four typical classes and one "higher" class, for the kids who are more advanced and need to be challenged. Can you guess which one I want Isabelle to be in? I like that they don't try to make everyone fit into the same hole.



We had to sit for a little bit until we were called back to the classrooms, so I let Isabelle take pictures to give her something to do.



Then we walked back to one of the classrooms...
My little girl, walking away from me.



Look how nicely she is sitting there, waiting for instructions. Most of the other kids were talking loud, and jumping around. Not my girl. Ready and waiting for the day to begin.

Then Lorelei and I said goodbye and gave Isabelle kisses and hugs. Isabelle was completely undaunted. I said to Lorelei as we walked out, "Huh. I think it would be nice if someone cried when I said goodbye."

So then I had hours. To watch the clock and refold the kitchen towels.
And watch the birds:



Bald is beautiful. Look at that ear opening! It's as big as his eye.



This juvenile house finch seems to be missing a few flight feathers. I was worried until I saw it fly fairly steadily away.

And more waiting....
And then it was time to go to the top of the street and wait for the bus. (Our street ends in a cul-de-sac and buses can't turn around in it) We left the house really early...like 30 minutes too early.



There it is!



There SHE is!

Isabelle was very ready to get into the house. See the pink speck? She ran ahead of us down the entire street and got into the house way before we were even close.

We will go in on Friday and see what classroom she will be in and meet her new teacher. Then Monday, she goes off on the bus all by herself. I am so tired...I spent the day trying to stay busy and not think about my little one in a big, scary school all by herself. But I really didn't have anything to worry about. She said she liked it.
But what happens when she goes off to college?

Kahlua, M & M's and Midol make Susan a happy girl

***Warning! Neurotic mother-rant coming!***

I think I am such a cool customer. I can handle really crazy stuff. I've been called a hard-ass (Just yesterday, my Mom called me that).

But today, I am rattled. Tomorrow, I will be taking Isabelle to her new school to begin a screening process to determine what teacher she should with. It's not her first "official" day of kindergarten, but she will be away from me from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm, and she will be coming home on a school bus.

I got an inkling of what this was going to be like when she started preschool. Away from our influence, being cared for by strangers (nice strangers, but strangers nonetheless).

The baby I carried inside me during 9/11, the child that changed our lives for the better, the brilliant, independent prankster who makes me laugh every day, is leaving the nest.

I asked her how she felt about kindergarten. At the end of last school year, she was bouncing off the walls (and so was I), thinking of all the big-kid stuff she would be doing. Now, she is nervous (and so am I). And excited (and so am I).

What if she cries? What if she has to go to the bathroom and is afraid to ask? What if she misses me?

I have folded, unfolded, and re-folded my kitchen towels 17 times.
And I am having a raging case of PMS. Ain't life grand? I feel like a badger on PCP.
Or a Grizzly with hemorrhoids. Or a hummingbird with a hernia.
If I don't kill anyone today, I will be counting my blessings.
I have M & M's. Okay. Breathe, Susan. Breathe.

I was so jazzed this summer, thinking of the girls going back to school. Lorelei will be gone two days a week, from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. It's the same school she went to last year, and I find myself rather relaxed about that.
But Isabelle will be gone five days a week, from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm, riding a bus driven by someone I don't know. In a school that has way older children, some of them bound to be bullies.

I think Isabelle will adjust a lot sooner than I will.
Where's the flippin' Midol ????

But you know what is keeping me on track, thinking that we are doing the right thing for her?
At least she isn't being unschooled.

I have a bottle of Kahlua just waiting for me to open it. I have saved it for some reason, and I think that reason is now clear.

I need to go refold my kitchen towels.