Back to school, 2008 style

Welcome to the first day of school, 2008. This is a year unlike any other is our previous existence. This is the very first back to school day that I didn't wring my hands over, stay up nights worrying about, or just plain dread. Of course there have been varying degrees of these negative feelings over the years, but I'm happy to share that I'm feeling none of them this year. Instead, I'm feeling confident, happy and very postitive about Sam's school sitation for second grade. The feeling must be contagious because Sam was feeling very upbeat this morning, too!
Of course we've traveled all over the "I don't want to go back to school" and "I want to stay home" attitudes for the past couple of weeks, even up until last night, when Sam had a tough time getting to sleep. (unusual for him) But this morning he put the nerves aside and was thrilled to proclaim to us this morning "I'm a second-grader!" He was dressed in his new Wall-E t-shirt and putting things in his backpack before I was even done with my coffee! We took some pictures out on the front porch as is our first-day-of-school custom, and watched kindergartner Olivia down the street wait for the bus for the first time. Then it was off to Bradt, a 1/2 hour drive that seemed to go quickly after not having driven it all summer. We counted 24 school buses along the way. It was so comforting, for me, parking in the familiar parking lot, going to the familiar door, saying hi to Mr. Jim and Miss Sandy. I'd have to say my favorite part, though, was seeing Sam's excitement in greeting his friends. He told them that he had missed them, and talked about some of the things he had done over the summer. Never mind that he just left most of them 3 weeks ago, but isn't this what NT kids do when they go to school? Excited to be wearing new clothes, interested in their friends' summer stories, glad to see their teachers? These are some of the emotions I can remember feeling when I started school each fall all those years ago. My absolute favorite part of the morning was when I had to remind him to give me a kiss and hug as I was leaving. The very fact that he was so caught up in his environment that he was forgetting to say goodbye to me indicates that we are moving in the right direction. I think about how different I feel than when I first left him at preschool, or when I was a nervous wreck putting him on the kindergarten bus. This feeling of first-day-of-school optimism may only be good for this one year, but I'm really enjoying it and counting my blessings!!