Hayley was in a great mood this morning when I woke her up for school, and I have to relish that because I know that later in the year, her school wake-up time is about an hour earlier than her inner clock and she won’t be so cheerful or quick to eat then. Another thing that happened that is rare later in the year is that she was fully dressed and waiting by the door about ten minutes early. And that was fine, because that meant photo time!

I know she was a little bit nervous, especially since we didn’t know who the teacher was or which friends would be in class with her, but she was definitely feeling the excitement more than the nerves, thank goodness.

The school yard looked like utter chaos with pretty much 95% of the students and most of their parents milling about. I was wondering if I’d need to get my paper bag out to breathe, but it was actually far more organized than it appeared. They spread kids out all the way around the outside of the building by grade, then the teachers all taped up their class lists on the brick walls. I found Hayley’s class and the angels sang above because a) it was the teacher I had heard about, all kinds of great things were said about her by other parents (I’m sure the other teacher is just as good, though I hadn’t heard a peep about her), and b) her best friend is in her class. For the past few weeks, she kept asking me if I thought her best buddy would be with her and I had no idea. I am so grateful they are together, since three of her other close girlfriends are in the other class. She also has one girl from the other Kindergarten class with her, someone she used to play with at recess and lunch last year, and a boy that she is really friendly with. That was all a big relief for both of us – I know having familiar faces really helps calm the nerves.

Look at that FACE. Seriously, isn’t it a shame that she was so sad? Don’t you wish she was a little bit excited? She was just about jumping out of her own skin, she was so excitable.

Finally, a full half hour after the bell rang, they were all ready to start moving into the classrooms. Her new teacher got them to all line up next to the wall and then they started trooping into the school, off to grade one. I was worried that she might start crying when I had to leave, but she just called out, “Bye Mom! Bye Breanna!” and sauntered off. I was struck, when I got home, to realize how tall she is in that picture. She’s like the Amazon child.

Her bag was so heavy with all her supplies, plus she had an extra plastic grocery bag with other supplies, and her lunch bag, so I think she was partly happy just to be getting a chance to put it all away.

By this time, they’re just about ready to head back inside after lunch time and afternoon recess, and then it will soon be time for me to see her again. I’m remembering this time last year, where I would find myself getting really excited around the time I was getting my own lunch, because I would be looking forward to hearing about her day. I can’t wait to find out how her first day as a first grader went, if she learned anything new, whether they did anything in French class today, and how she likes her new teacher.

Sometimes I think I’m at least as excited as she is about these things.

After a really wet but more or less decent summer, all of a sudden I found myself sharpening 24 pencils, packing up a lunch in a new little pink lunch bag, and laying out a navy blue skirt with white socks and a white t-shirt. I found myself drying Hayley’s hair more carefully so it wouldn’t be as rumpled in the morning as it was able to be all summer. I found myself tucking a nervous but excited little girl into bed, and later found myself amazed that she was asleep before 9:30 when I expected her to keep herself awake much later than that.

I answered questions today that I had already answered, just for the sake of reassurance – things like the difference between grade one tomorrow and Kindergarten last year, which of the teachers she might get, whether or not there will be a split grade one/two class and whether or not she’ll be in it, whether her closest friends will be in her class (man, I hope her best friend is in her class, *fingers crossed*), and how she’ll deal with formally learning French.

I also reassured her that yes, her friends will still recognize her even with her much shorter hair. I pointed out that her hair had been cut but her face still looked the same. I knew she was okay when she made a wildly weird face and said, “no, look how different my face is!” with her tongue hanging out and her eyes bulging. Clown.

I just hope it all holds. I know that as excited as she is, she’s a bundle of nerves too. She had a stomach ache earlier today and I know it’s the nervous feelings hitting her. Hopefully she’ll be okay when she gets to school and I get her to class.

I had been informed by another mother that we would get the information regarding the teacher and classroom sometime in the week before school starts, but I didn’t get anything. I don’t know if she was wrong or if it was just late (watch, I’ll get it in the mail tomorrow), but nothing ever showed up and no one was in the office the times that I called. It’s not a big deal, I’ll just take her into the office tomorrow to find out where she’s supposed to be and help her find the right room.

Last year I couldn’t believe I was shipping my baby off to Kindergarten, that she was already at that point. She wasn’t even five years old for the first three weeks of school and it all seemed like time had blasted past. Apparently this summer blasted past too, because I can barely believe that she’s headed for grade one tomorrow.

I hope she sleeps well for the whole night. Considering how quickly the summer went, the night should be the blink of an eye.