Someone pass me the kleenex...

My big girl went off to her first day of first grade today. I wasn't sure if she'd be able to find her class on her own (they have 6 first grade classrooms) and 3 wings of the school, so I wanted to walk her in. She kept telling me she'd just do it herself, but I told her I'd feel better if I knew that she got to class ok. I was thrilled that I was able to find a parking space quite easily and I got the boys out of the car quite easily. We got into the school and they wanted us to wait in the gym or the cafeteria until the bell rang. I was glad at that point that I was with Deidra as we didn't know where either of those were in the school. We went to the start of her hallway and just waited there. She then said, "Mom, I just have to go down to where the last 1 is...I can do this by myself." I just saw her teacher walk down the hall though, so I told her I didn't want her to go into an empty classroom by herself, so I would see her into the room. The bell rang and we walked her down...she couldn't remember where her seat was and so we had to show her. She gave us all a hug and then said "Bye, Mom...I love you." The "I love you" was an afterthought. I walked out of her room and down the hall fighting tears of how proud I am of her...but a little sad that she's so independant now. As I was walking (carrying D and pushing J in the stroller), I heard "look, that's Deidra's Mom" but I couldn't see who it was with all the parents and the kids...then I finally saw that it was one of the girls that she has cheerleading with. Her Mom stopped to ask if I needed any help as it was total chaos in there and I had the boys, but I was managing ok. I got to the main hall though and I could not get out...one of the teachers literally had to stop the crowds to give me some room to maneuver. It was kind of funny, but a little embarrassing at the same time. We finally made it outside and I figured I'd ask the crossing guard when and where I needed to pick Deidra up at. All the first grade parents were lost at what we were doing with being in a new school this year. I'm still a little confused at how it's going to all work out, but I guess we'll just see how things go. The schools are so different down here in how everything is set up it seems.

She was very excited about her first day though and was thrilled that she finally got to wear her new clothes that we got last week for her. She looked very pretty and was just thrilled. She says to me "Mommy, how many more years do I have to go before I get my class ring like you and Daddy have." We talked about that for awhile and then she brought up college. She asked me if she'd have to live somewhere else and we talked about whether she picked a state college or she chose to go somewhere else. She says "I get nervous when you and Daddy aren't around...so I can I still sleep at home?" I told her that of course she could, but she may feel differently when she was older...but I told her that I just didn't want to have to think about her going away to college yet. She says "why, I have a savings account...is that all going to be mine when I go to college?"...I told her that money that was put away was for her college and that it was started when she was just a baby...but we needed to get her through school first before we started talking about college." Then, she wanted to know about the things she'd learn in first grade...so we talked about that. She's growing up so fast...

She could hardly fall asleep last night, she was so excited to get back to school...I hope she's always this excited about learning new things.

I took pictures this morning...I'll have to put one up later on.