First Day of School

TPG had his first day of school today. The plan was to put him on the bus and then follow the bus to school and walk him to his classroom. Did things go as planned? Of course not! TPG did get on the bus without a hitch and he even met a new friend who is in first grade and lives up the street. But, after he got on the bus, things went down hill...

Liberty Elementary is a new school so there were lots of parents who wanted to walk their kids to the classroom. Because they do not have enough parking at the school for every parent they set up an alternate parking plan. We could park our cars at the church across the street and take a bus over to the school. My plan was to follow TPG's bus and park at the church and take the shuttle over and meet him in his classroom. I felt really guilty when I got there because there were all these parent who were getting on the bus with their kids. Here I was, the bad parent who put their kid on the bus at the bustop by himself. But, once I got on the bus I met other parents who were doing the same thing as me. We rode the bus across the street and walked into the school. I was directed into the gymnasium where there were lots of kids sitting quietly and calmly in rows. I looked for TPG and did not see him. I asked a teacher and was told he could be in his classroom already. Ok, no big deal. I walked to his classroom where there were tons of kids sitting anxiously at their desk with nervous parents all around the room. Still no TPG. (see photo)

Ok, now I am nervous. My biggest fear the night before was that he would get off the bus at school and not know where to go and get lost. It was an irrational fear last night but now it was coming true, crap! The teacher spotted me and noticed my panicked look. She tried to calm me and let me know that the first day of kindergarten is tougher on the parents than the kids. I tried to smile and told her that would be great if I actually knew where my kid was. "Hmmm" she said and then instructed me to wait and he would show up. Ok, no, not going to wait. I was going to look for him myself. There were TV cameras from all 3 tv stations all over the school to document the first day in the new school and I know they were looking for a crying parent to interview. Not me, I was not crying about that, I was pissed. They had lost my child. I tried very hard to keep my calm and not strangle the teachers. I went back in the gym, still no TPG. All the buses had already dropped kids off. No TPG.
At that moment, my stomach did a churn, I was going to puke and then I realized I had not eaten breakfast. Wait, breakfast, I smelled breakfast. They serve breakfast at school that some children eat because they don't, can't, won't eat breakfast at home. It all clicked. I should have known. I walked into the cafeteria and there in his cute green striped shirt that makes his eyes look amazing is TPG eating a healthy breakfast! See below-

I could have killed him. He had a full breakfast at home but when he got off the bus they told the kids "if you want breakfast go in the cafeteria, if not, wait in the gym." Well, TPG would never turn down food. No way! Of course I did not send him with money to buy breakfast. They don't even take money for breakfast or lunch. It is all done with accounts. And TPG now has a negative balance, on his first day, grrrr. I told him to hurry up and eat but he was bound and determined to eat the entire meal. Finally he was done, grape jelly all over his mouth and shirt and milk dribbled down his front. I wanted to walk him to his room. Before he had left in the morning I had put a note in his pocket with this room number on it in case he got lost. As we were walking down the hallway, he got out his note and started looking for his room. He turned to me and said "I can do it by myself" And he did. He got into his classroom, found his spot, sat down and proceeded to ready himself for the day. The teacher showed a little video clip that she put on her blog about the first day of school and then she ushered the parents out. TPG got a little bit clingy as I was leaving but I pointed out that one of his friends from his preschool was crying and he quickly swooped to her rescue, always the gentleman. I guess thats it. I will be waiting for him as he gets off the bus today. I survived and I am sure TPG did as well. To see more pictures from the First Day of School, click here.