Shelby's First Day of Kindergarten

(This is the picture her teacher took at school.)

Today was a day that I felt was far away. It seemed years before we'd get to this day, and yet I find myself here . . . on Shelby's first day of kindergarten. She's been ready; it's just Tom and I. It's hard to believe that she's all grown up and ready to go to school.

The morning actually went smoothly. We'd been practicing getting up and bathing quickly for a week, so it was no problem doing it again today. Then while Shelby and Taylor ate breakfast, I made her lunch, which we'd planned the night before. Then it was 7:30 and time to go. Tom came with us to see her off. Because it was so busy, he dropped Shelby and I off. We got to the cafeteria and found her class. I told her to give me a hug goodbye, which she did. She then went over to her teacher. Her teacher told her to say goodbye, so she reached her hand in my direction and sort of looked over her shoulder at me and gave me a very quick goodbye and that was it. She was done with me, and ready to be at school.

Now I haven't shed any tears although there have been plenty of moments when they've welled up (like when we met her teacher last Friday and walked around the school for a bit). I thought maybe today I might cry, but I didn't. As I walked to the car I wondered if I'd done everything to prepare her. If I had taught her to do what's right and how to stand up for herself and so many things . . .

(Scanning the driveway . . . trying to find us.)

Well, I was excited to pick her up to see how her day had gone. I could tell she was looking for me and couldn't understand why I hadn't picked her up sooner; apparently she thought I'd be there the moment school ended. Her teacher told me that she'd been a good helper, which wasn't a surprise because she really is a good helper. She enjoys it a lot.

(She finally found us!!)

In the car she told me everything. How she sat quietly while the teacher talked, but she did talk once while the teacher was talking . . . only once though. How she was shy about the boys, but not the girls (Tom told her that was fine with him). How she met Laura and Taylor . . . Taylor Shepard that is . . . and Adiana (not Adrianna like her friend from church, but A-Di-ana). How there was another girl who liked carrots and grapes like Shelby. How she didn't really get to do anything on the computer.

(Our BIG girl!!)

At one point she told me how they were lining up in order (they were each given a number . . . hers is 8). Well the boy who was number 7 pushed her and said, "You're not my friend." As soon as she told me this, I was eager to hear how she handled it. She used to be really sensitive about stuff like that. I'd hoped that a few years with Taylor would have toughened her up, but wasn't sure. She told me that after he pushed her, she thought, "I'm not standing by you because I'm your friend. I'm standing by you because we're lining up like 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. . . . She said then she went and told her teacher and she got back in line and he didn't push her again. I was quite proud of her. Although I must admit, I wish she had actually told the boy what she had thought . . . that she was only lining up by him because she had to and not because she wanted to. Tom told her she should have pushed him or slapped him back. She told him no because she wanted to get a smiley face for good behavior. He tried to tell her that she could call him names or say mean things to him, but she told him again that she wanted to get a smiley face for the day. I told her she could just tell him not to push her and then tell the teacher like she did. Tom finally told her that she should tell the boy that her dad was going to beat up his dad. Poor Tom. If he could protect her from everything, he would. She handled things well though.

(Throwing a fit because she REALLY wanted her shoes off. She is a flip-flop girl, so this whole shoes and socks things . . . in Texas . . . is just miserable.)

There was another time she told me how they were lining up for class and some boys were being goofy in the line. She continued on, but after a few minutes Taylor interrupted. It went something like this . .

I said, "What, Taylor?"

"No, Mom. Not you. Shelby." (Ouch)

"What, Taylor?" said Shelby.

"Shelby, did you tell those boys to stop it?"

"No."

"You need to tell them to stop it."

I thought it was hilarious. I can see it now. The kids in Taylor's kindergarten class had better watch out because she's gonna keep them all in line. I thought it was too cute.

Anyways, it was a great day. Shelby did well. Taylor did well despite the fact that last week she tried to hide the card with Shelby's teacher's name on it in the hopes that Shelby wouldn't be able to go to Kindergarten. We had "Taylor's School" in the afternoon before we got Shelby, which I think helped Taylor not feel so lonely, which is what she's been worried about. It really was a great day, and I look forward to this year and the exciting things that come with school.