So it's Hunter's first day of kindergarten today. Now prepare yourself for a long post. This post is number 200, so that is another bloggy milestone, and I believe that permits me a "mommy moment" to post every single second of Hunter's first day of kindergarten. It's a bittersweet day for me, because my first baby is leaving the nest and going to school. Hunter was so incredibly excited! He was dressed at 6:30 this morning in the outfit he has had picked out for 2 weeks now. We even gelled his hair. Here he is in front of the mirror checking out his new digs with his hair, new clothes, and backpack on. He's amazed at how good he looks!
Now he's just trying to be silly. This is the look he'll give someone who is "mean" to him. It's a "must-practice" before the first day of school ya know.
Then we went to pack his lunch. Peanut butter and honey sandwhich. I even cut it into racecar shapes with a cookie cutter for his special first-day lunch.
Can you tell he is really excited about his new Speedracer lunch box and the lunch I packed him?
Then he stood in front of the clock and waited.....and waited. He has PM kindergarten so it's from 11:00-3:00. I told him we weren't going to out to the bike and leave until 10:30. The clock says 10:10 right here.
Then we went outside for some first-day-of-school pictures. He really didn't want to take more than a couple.
Then he got so excited, that he decided it would be fun for me to play, "I'll run and you chase me with a camera and see what kind of picture you get, Mommy!" I'm gunna be honest, it wasn't my favorite game. Hunter's best friend, Emma, who lives next door took some pictures with Hunter too. Her mother must be some kind of over-achiever, because are you kidding me? That is the cutest outfit I have EVER seen on a little girl for the first day of school!!!! Even her hair was in perfect little pigtail ringlets. Emma is the cutest!
And then Emma's mommy, Heidi, got one of Hunter and me. Darn lense flare on my head got in the way though.
Ainsley was super excited too. Somehow she caught the excitement and thought she was going too. She couldn't understand why she didn't have a "pack pack" and "wunch box" too!
So yeah, we roll in style. It can be a zoo in front of the school, and they are also doing massive road work right in front as well, so I decided to hook up the bike stroller. It was actually quicker than driving since the school is only two blocks away. Weanies drive for only two blocks, even though it was still really hot today.
At this point, neither one of them is thrilled about the helmets, but they got over it.
Hunter is now a John Wash Tiger!
Lining up. And this where my day got interesting. He burst into tears after being SO excited up until this point.
He cried all through lunch. Parents were invited to stay, so I did because Hunter was completely losing it. Ainsley though, thought it was great and sat right next to Hunter on the cafeteria bench. She wanted to go to school with Hunter so much! So she ate most of his lunch and had a great time waving at all the other students.
Doesn't this next picture break your heart? They are lining up to go to the library and then their classroom.
So all the parents and kids traipsed over to the library. Hunter was looking back and making sure I was still there and bawling his eyes out. By the way, he is the only one crying. All the other kids in his class are loving it! That's his lovely teacher, Mrs. Her. I think he will have a great time in "her" class. Poor thing. My kids certainly made it challenging for her today. The embarrassment after being a teacher, and now on the flip side I'm being the parent with the annoying kids. Sweet.
And Ainsley is still trying to be a part of the whole thing. Sitting on the rug too, getting in other kid's way, talking when it was supposed to be quiet. She was quite a nuisance. I wanted to leave, but I wanted to make sure Hunter got to his classroom alright. He doesn't do well with new transitions.
So then all the parents and kids walked to the classroom, where Mrs. Her led them in a song around the room. Hunter is starting to warm up in spite of himself. Ainsley is still trying to be as disruptive as possible here.
So when they finally sat back down on the rug, I tried to sneak out with all the other kindergarten parents. That's when all hell broke loose. Hunter started screaming and threw himself at me. Neither me nor his teacher could pry him off. He went balistic!
When I did get him off me, he bolted out the door after me.
Trying to calm him down only brought on fresh hysterical screams.
"I...JUST....CAN'T GO BACK IN THERE MOMMY! DON'T MAKE ME GO! IT'S TOO SCARY!"
I asked her what she recommended. She called the principal, Mr. Sever. Mr. Sever quickly drew Hunter to the side to show him a sparkley rock, and I beat it out of there before Hunter could change his mind. I quickly became, "THAT PARENT" with the two bratty kids, on the first day of school. NICE. This is every parent's dream for the first day of school right? I'm sure they would be pretty funny pictures had I been able to capture them, but he was attached to me and it's hard to whip out a camera in such situations.
I got a call a couple minutes after I got home, that Hunter was happy and fine. Here he is coming to meet me from class as happy as a clam. Whew! Let's hope round two tomorrow doesn't involve the principal. I hope he never, ever has to visit the principal again.
And when we got home, we photographed the special magic sparkle rock that Hunter got from Mr. Sever. It's quite the treasure right??? Mr. Sever is brilliant I think.
Happy first day of kindergarten Hunter! You sure put Mommy through the ringer!
OH MY GOSH. That picture of Hunter looking back at you and crying is so sad. "I am never letting go Mommy!" LOL. Glad you made it through the day, BP!
Wow!! I am glad to hear that he enjoyed it in the end. Tell him we will see him next next Monday and we are excited to see he cool shiny rock. Good luck tomorrow!!!
That's really rough. It sort of sounds sweet and funny, but when you're living it--it's not. At least, that's how I take it. I remember when Aidan had his Thanksgiving "Feast" last year. All the kids sat in their cute little chairs wearing their cute little pilgrim hats. Not Aidan. No way. He ripped off his costume and screamed, "Hold me, Mommy!!!!" It was terrible b/c the whole time I was worrying, "Is this normal??"
Oh my Heavens to Betsies,,,,you poor thing. A day I'm sure neither you nor Hunter will ever forget. Thank you for capturing this moment for us and sharing.
Those pictures are pitiful! I would have had a hard time leaving him too. Hope he's doing better now!