My Baby Started School

Today was the first day of school for my youngest daughter and it turned out like anything else done by a second child...things were overlooked.

It was a chaotic morning, more than usual. Of course, last night I forgot to prepare my daughter’s knapsack with extra clothes and indoor shoes, which I forgot at my store and had to pick up after I dropped my daughter off at school. With the extra running around I was a little more stressed than usual.

All morning I kept reminding myself of the first day of school picture. In the car my mother (who is visiting this week) says that she forgot to get a picture. I hang my head (not too long because I am driving), realizing I also forgot to take a picture.

Thank goodness for camera phones! I snapped a picture outside the school when she got out of the van.

We walked to her classroom, filled with potential new friends. My biggest concern was tears. Would she let me go? Thankfully, she already had a friend in the class and she was assigned a seat next to her. After some fast talking on my part, I managed to leave with no tears – for either of us.

When my oldest daughter started school, I actually had an anxiety attack. Full on couldn’t breathe and heart racing. It didn’t last long, but I was a bit of a wreck sending my baby off to school. At the time she was an only child and only three years old, being a December baby.

This time I was looking forward to it. Not only do they make friends and learn lots of stuff (not all of it good), but they acquire further independence. The teacher can’t cater to all twenty-something students, so they must learn to do more things by themselves. This independence carries over to home, usually.

Making two lunches will be the bane of my existence for many years, but my baby is now a big girl, which means that I will start gaining some semblance of myself back. I may even get to start doing some of the hobbies I used to enjoy.

Let’s not get too carried away. It’s only been one day after all.