He loved it!!!

This picture was taken AFTER school. Wouldn't you know my camera's battery died this morning, so all school pictures had to occur AFTER the fact. Oh well - not much difference, I suppose.

Rhett really wanted to be a part of the action...

A little bit of a smile... (or is that an evil grin?)

Grant woke up with a smile on his face this morning = the morning of the first day of KINDERGARTEN. His first words were, "I am so excited!" Thank goodness! The morning went off without a hitch, for Grant. For myself, however, the morning was a bit harder than I expected. I did well when driving him to school, I did well when walking him into the school, but the tears started to form when we turned left to go down his hall - the Kindergarten hall. I just couldn't swallow that The Day had finally come. The Moment had finally come. We were there. I was there. No turning back. I was able to gain control of myself because Grant was still with me, and I didn't want him to see my cry. I was afraid it would throw off his whole morning, his whole happy-with-the-day morning. I put the sadness out of my mind and followed, yes, followed Grant into his room. (He led me in. I was afraid I'd have to drag the child in. It was as if he couldn't get there fast enough.) He entered the room on his own, walked directly to Mrs. Williams and touched her hand and said, "Hi, Mrs. Williams." It was his way of celebrating that he had arrived at school - his FIRST day of school. She patted his hand and bent down and said that she was so happy to see him. So sweet! I gave him a kiss and hug, took him to his seat and walked away with one child instead of the two that I came into the school with. He waved goodbye from his little chair, and that was that. I rounded the corner to enter the hallway, and I felt the tears coming again, but Rhett came through. He threw a fit because he didn't want to leave Bubba!! I am not usually excited about two-year-old fits, but this one quickly took my mind off the sadness of leaving my baby, so I welcomed it with relief. I was able to make it out of the building without crying. Matter of fact, I haven't cried at all. I've started to a couple times. You know the feeling of your throat tightening up? Ya - that's come a lot today, but I've been able to push it aside because deep down I know he'll be fine. He'll have fun. I also gain peace because I know the school district and its policies, as well as the school's layout, like the back of my hand since I used to teach in this district. The school I taught in is almost a carbon copy of Grant's school, so the fact that I know where every closet and hallway and door is gives me reassurance. But probably what makes me feel the most comfortable is that my father-in-law, aka Dude Dad, is an administrator in the school district. It's not that I ever plan on using that leverage, but it is nice to have it in case it is ever needed...

I will admit the day was lonely and s-l-o-w without him. I began to think that 3 o'clock would never roll around. But, it eventually did, and I picked up a very happy kindergartner who said he had a great day and was sad that it had to end. Thank you, Mrs. Williams! He did report that the playground was not as cool as he had hoped, but he seemed to have decided that all was not lost and the year would still be okay. He also mentioned that he made a lot of friends and that he had had the BEST day EVER.

We celebrated the day with ice cream. Unfortunately, so did half of Sugar Land. Grant had two scoops - vanilla and cotton candy. He ate every bit of it.

Here's to a great SECOND day!