First Day of School!

Well the much anticipated first day of school came for Ashley. We were all very excited. The night before I fixed a special dinner for her. I then asked her what she wanted special for her first lunch, then what she wanted for her first breakfast! (I believe this is when Andy said something about it getting ridiculous. I argued that we couldn't go to great enough lengths for the first day of school!!!) Anyway, we got the meals covered and she then thought for a moment and said, "so, I think I would like to come out here in the morning and have breakfast already on the table with lots of cards and presents." (ok, maybe I had carried this too far) Once she could tell that we weren't going for it, she said, "ok, maybe just one card that says 'congratulations on first grade'. And a hundred bucks." Well, you can't knock her for asking. Her wish did not come true, just in case you were wondering. She did wake up to blueberry-chocolate chip pancakes though, which Abby got to benefit from as well.

We were all ready on time and headed out the door - with backpack and lunch in tow - for the traditional first day of school picture. (wardrobe change was due to the aforementioned blueberry-chocolate chip pancake breakfast)

It seemed like mass chaos to me when we got to the school, but fortunately I ran into my friend Erika first who offered to watch Abby and Charlie while I took Ashley to class. We found our way to her room (which was not easy - I'm hoping she'll be able to master this soon). My main feeling was that it felt so grown up. She was in the oldest class at her former school, and now she was basically the youngest, and it felt like I might as well have been leaving her at college. (not that I'm dramatic or anything) It just felt like a huge jump. We got her stuff put away in her cubby, unloaded her supplies and found her seat. She seemed pretty happy up until now. You could start to tell reality was settling in and she was getting a little nervous. She then asked how many minutes until school was over. That's when I started to lose it. I made it out of the classroom though and back out front to where Erika was. I think I could hear her screams of excitement from down the hall. (She must have just recovered from the pain of separation from her daughter though) They had coffee set up in the courtyard so we hung out there for a little. Then I said to Erika (only halfway joking), "so, do we just hang out here until 3 o'clock?!" I wish. We went back to Er's for awhile. Not sure what else I did during the day, mainly wait for 3:26 to get here. 3:26 came and went. Her bus was 40 minutes late! (insert freak out session here) She lit up when she saw me from the bus, and it was so great to have her back.

As we were walking home she started crying, and pretty much the next hour was Ashley and me crying together on the couch. She was lonely, confused, forgot her lunch in the classroom, didn't get a bus sticker, no one would play with her, the teacher "yelled" at her, on and on. Pretty much like torture for me to sit and listen to. I tell ya, homeschooling never sounded more appealing! Fortunately, she never uttered the words "don't make me go back".

Her spirits did improve as the night went on, and she woke up the next morning singing which never sounded better. We went through the same routine the next morning (including the blueberry-chocolate chip pancakes. Hey, a day that bad deserves more chocolate chip pancakes!) and I had a chance to talk to her teacher briefly with Ashley which I think helped Ashley feel more confident expressing some of her confusion throughout the day. There wasn't much to do then but to pray. I wanted so badly for Ash to connect with a good friend, but I realized that maybe more important than that was for her to learn where her confidence lies and to grow through this. Well, it turned out to be an amazing day. She made a friend in her class and they played together outside, she figured out she gets to see her friend Caity 2-3 times a day which is such a thrill for her, and a 3rd grader who lives behind us is going to to be Ashley's "bus buddy". Right now she is just taking the bus home from school. She wants to take it to school, but I think I'll make sure she can find her own way to class (and I can stabilize my emotions again!) before I let her loose on that adventure.