First Days

First Day of Kindergarten - 2006

He wasn't really all that thrilled to be there

and wanted more than anything to go back

to his preschool classroom at McKendree.

His sister, who was three long years away from Kindergarten,

wanted nothing more than to stay at SBA.

It was a tough morning all the way around.

 First Day of First Grade - 2007

Another first day that he wasn't thrilled about.

This was also his sweet teacher's very first day of teaching.

Miss Trappey turned out to be the right teacher 

at the right time for my then overly cautious little boy.

She helped him have an amazing year and set him

up to believe that new challenges might be scary

but could be worth the risk. She's the kind of teacher

you hope your child encounters somewhere along the way.

First Day of Preschool and 2nd Grade - 2008

This is the first "First Day of School" that

Owen was excited about.  He was ready to be a 2nd grader.

 And I know she's my baby girl, but ohmygoodness 

the cuteness of this picture!  The saddle shoes

and the headband and the teeny tiny jumper that we had

to have altered because even the smallest uniform

jumper was way too big on her.  She quickly realized

that she was the smallest kid in the whole of SBA that year 

and she loved every minute of it. Also, (and I'm probably

 alone in this opinion), I wish that SBA would require all the 

Pre-K and Kindergarten girls to wear these sweet jumpers 

every day just for the adorableness factor alone.  

Also in 2008 - Sarah had a half day of school,

 so I picked her up at dismissal and took her to City Limits 

where she got herself a BIG chocolate chip cookie 

to celebrate finally being an SBA Bear.

Then the two of us went next door to the

Monkey's Treehouse (an indoor play place) before we

returned to SBA to pick up her brother. The three of us stopped

at the Marble Slab Creamery for some ice cream on our way home.

It was a fun first day.

 First Day of Kindergarten and 3rd Grade - 2009

Owen wanted to walk his sister into his

Kindergarten classroom that day. He seemed to be feeling 

nostalgic about his bygone days as a Kindergartner. He tried to help 

Sarah find her cubby and get settled in.  

Of course, Sarah was less than thrilled with his offer of help. 

She wanted to do everything on her own that day

(just like every other day of her life).

I'd like to believe that she was secretly happy 

that he was such an enthusiastic big brother

that morning . . . I'd really like to believe that.

First Day of First and Fourth Grades - 2010

Sarah was excited to be upstairs in the

big school and Owen was thrilled that he and one of his

best buddies were finally in the same homeroom that year.

What I remember most about this first day is Owen giving Sarah

explicit instructions not to bug him ever when she saw him in the hall

or on the playground or in the lunchroom. 

The phrase that comes to mind is, "Yeah, right."

First Day of 2nd and 5th Grades - 2011

As a 5th grader, this was Owen's first year

in the Upper School and he was more than ready to be there.

Being upstairs meant more responsibility and more freedom,

two things his ten year old self was more than ready to take on.

This was also the first year that I wasn't allowed to walk him

to his classroom (at his request). I was both happy and

sad that he wanted to go it alone. Seeing that her brother was successful in 

ditching me, Little Miss tried to do the same thing.  I told her,

"No ma'am, you're stuck with me  until the fourth grade - just like your brother."

Before and after locker pics.  

By the third day of school, he let me come 

upstairs to help.  He successfully 

managed it on his own the rest of the year though.

First Day of 3rd and 6th Grades - 2012

Our easiest "First Day" to date.

Everyone knows the lay of the land they're

both ready to go back to school.

I continued my tradition and walked

Sarah to her classroom so that I could take my traditional

"hey, we found your locker" picture followed by the

"and now we've found your desk" photo opp.

My hope is that someday I'll get to hear my grown-up

kids talk about how embarrassing their mother was

because I insisted (INSISTED!) on making a spectacle

of myself on all those "First Days" when they were little.

I take my job as the "mommarazzi" seriously.

"You have your photos.  You can go now."