I could see her anxiety building over the last few weeks and we tried various things to help her emotionally adjust. I think her two favorite things were a little stuffed key chain I gave her named "Dotty" that would go with her to school on her backpack and then my mom also gave her a special heart necklace. My mom explained that it is her "brave heart" necklace to help her have courage when she is feeling scared. Lia latched on to that idea and hasn't taken the necklace off since.
She was so nervous, but I actually think the extra day before school started helped her. She was much more composed this morning and ready to get the show on the road!
Her alarm went off to wake her up for the very first time in her entire life at 6:30am. She was totally disoriented and did not understand "why kindergarten has to start in the middle of the night" to which I agreed. Ha! She immediately pulled her brave heart necklace out of her shirt and asked "where's Dotty?" - after some searching, Lia found poor Dotty in the play kitchen freezer and latched her proudly on her backpack.
Erin and Halle stayed at grandma and grandpa's house last night so Todd and I could both go with Lia and give her any/all attention she may need. I have to say, getting one kid ready for school was a total breeze! Lia requested pancakes with syrup and sprinkles and we happily obliged.
Since we live close to the school, Lia is in the "walking zone" and there is no school bus and really no need to drive her through the drop off line. We drove up today a little closer to the school and then walked her in.
She was very quiet walking in and wanted to hold my hand. I was really just hoping against hope that she could summon enough bravery not to have a complete meltdown. She impressed me. She always does. She was a little unsure, but was not upset or scared. She gave us huge hugs and sat down to start coloring.
We were two steps away from the door and I hear a "mommy?" and my heart sank. I thought for sure I'd turn and she'd be teary and sad. But no! Happy girl waving goodbye! YAY!!! I think I will remember that face for always though. A mixture of excitement, fear, sadness and courage.
I tried to keep myself busy all day waiting to be able to go pick her up - tracked what she was doing on the schedule and daydreaming about her day. Really hoping she was having a good experience. At pick up she looked totally exhausted and gave me a big hug. She declined playing on the playground (who is this child???) and just wanted to go home (uh, seriously? ok...). She perked up a bit on the walk to the car and said she had a good day and went to the computer lab. "And I got to work the computer myself - with the mouse!" She said that eating lunch in the cafeteria was fun and she made a new friend in her class named Sofia. Sounds like a good day to me!
Erin and Halle surprised her when she got home with little letters they made for her (with zero prompting from me - it was so cute). She were excited to give them to her and I think it really made Lia feel good. Erin drew her a picture of Lia and Daddy walking to school "because I missed you all day Lia" and Halle drew Lia a map of the school and our house "so you know always how to get to school." Uh. Adorable.
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Lia's teacher took these pictures of all the kids during the day and sent them out to the parents. Just got it this evening. So nice to see that smiling face when I know how hard this morning was for her.
Way to go kid.
Proud of you.
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