Kindergarten, meet Maxwell T!

There was no avoiding it.  Kindergarten was going to come whether this momma was ready or not.  So I decided to embrace it for the boy's sake.  He's pretty sensitive/empathetic and I knew that if he caught on that I wasn't totally down with it then he would have had a hard time, so I couldn't be anything but excited in front of him.  We made a 10-day countdown, had a mom & son school clothes shopping date, and talked about Kindergarten constantly. 

Finally the day came and Silver Ridge Elementary did a good job of breaking me in.  The first day of school (9/7) was an Orientation.  I got to go to class with Max, get him all situated, drop off his school supplies, sit him at his desk, go to a short orientation in the library, and then take my boy home with me.  I liked it lots!  Oh, but when I told Max that I was leaving the classroom for the orientation, his eyes got really big and concerned looking and he asked where I was going.  Don't worry, I didn't rush over and hug and cry with him and tell him that I would never leave him like I wanted to.  I told him I'd be back in just a bit and he seemed fine.  That didn't stop me from walking away with tears in my eyes, though.  That night Tyler gave him a father's blessing for the school year and as we were laying out what he would wear the next day, he laid on the ground and thought it would be funny for me to lay the clothes on top of him. :)

 Making the clouds on his first assignment black - for rain clouds, of course.  We do live in the Pacific NW.

 My handsome boy at his desk!

 Maxwell T and Mrs. Warrington - she's wonderful!

The next day was the real deal.  I was putting my handsome little man on a bus - a BIG bus - with other Kindergartners and sending him off for his first full day of school. Ack!  The really awesome part of this story is that Max's two best friends - Adam and Reyes - live on our street and all of them are in the same class.  So we took down the last link on his countdown, had lunch, took pictures, met Reyes as she was walking to the bus, took a few more pictures, watched as all three kids walked up the street holding hands, waited at the bus stop, took more pictures, giggled when they squealed because they saw the school bus, said a hurried goodbye, gave him a kiss, took one more picture, and stood with tears in my eyes as I watched my little man drive away.  Man, it's hard.  But  I knew that he would love it.

I'm so lucky these little people belong to me!  I love them so much.

The Kindergartner!

 He wanted to be sure the K was still visible in this backpack shot :)

 He asked Reyes if she would marry him the other day...she said yes :)

Kelly and I came home and finished his First Day Hooray banner. (I got this really great idea from my dear friend, Carrie, to do a First Day Hooray party...thanks for yet another fabulous mom idea, Carrie!) Then Bo-Bell and I made some cookies.  Before I knew it, we were headed out to pick him up.  He just takes the Kindergarten bus TO school, but we pick him up AFTER school.  I was super excited to see him and hear all about his day, so that's just what we did when we got home.  We had milk and cookies while he told us about the kids he met and what they did all day and how much of his snack he ate before recess (not much because he was REALLY excited to play) and what he did at recess...it was so fun.  He loves school, which is no surprise.  That night we had soccer practice, then I ran off to do the spiritual thought at our Relief Society meeting, and then we met as a family to have dinner and celebrate the big day!

I really can't believe I have a son in school.  What the heck am I going to do next year when he goes ALL day?!  Nevermind, I won't think about it.  For now we'll just jump in and enjoy all things Kindergarten!