Little miss awoke full of energy and excitement. I awoke with knots in my stomach, an incredible sense of fear and a real urge to use the bathroom.
We had made up a routine chart a few days ago and it goes something like this; 7am Wake up, have breakfast, get dressed, pack bag, brush teeth, 8.30am head to school.
She was ready at about 7.45am. "When are we going?" was her question on repeat.
She checked and double-checked her bag in the 45 minutes before it was time to leave the house. I took a Valium.
One more trip to the bathroom for me and we were out the door at 8.30am.
Arriving at school seemed to ease my nerves, seeing all the other families in the same situation as us or perhaps the Valium had kicked in. Little miss was still smiling around at everyone, soaking it all up.
We mingled in the playground with the other kids waiting for the bell to ring and greeted some of the parents and kids that we already knew.
The bell rang and the older kids lined up in their classes. The principal said a few words and the kindy kids were ushered to the school hall to find out what class they would be in.
Our little miss would be in Mrs Fairgrieve's Coolabah class which is a composite class with Year 1. She already knew one of the Year 1 kids in her class - who was actually hoping our little miss would be in the kindy component of the class. Cute, right!
We followed along to the classroom. All still going well.
We got to the classroom and our little miss seemed to get a little overwhelmed. My nerves returned, as did my need to go to the bathroom. She shed a few tears, I choked my tears back as Mrs Fairgrieve took her hand, hugged her and gently rubbed her back. Instantly I loved this woman.
She showed the kids where to put their lunch and recess boxes and which peg to hang their bags on. We found her chair, in between a little girl and boy and she sat down, still with a few tears and shy looks.
Some Year 6 kids came to help out and our little miss was fortunate enough to have the school captain help her! She was a lovely girl and asked our little miss if she was okay and told her that everything would be alright. Instantly I loved this kid.
This was my cue to leave, even though I didn't want to. I wanted to stay all day to make sure she was okay but clearly that is not allowed. I kissed her and we did our Rainbow Connection and hand squeezes. I left the room and hurried to meet Hubby near the school hall. Attempting to keep my shit together just a little bit longer.
We headed to a cafe and I cried. Hubby asked if I was crying because our little miss was starting school or because she was a bit overwhelmed by it all. I said I wasn't sure, probably a combination of both. He reminded me it is a big adjustment for everyone and will take a bit for us all to get used to it. He, of course, is right - isn't he always!
Let me tell you something for nothing though - 3pm can't come around fast enough.
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