Kindergarten Girl!

On Wednesday, 8/17/16, Madeline started Kindergarten! I have had a lot of anxiety about her starting school. Madeline is my more reserved child, timid in new environments and around strangers.

I worried about the important stuff:

Would she be afraid?

Would kids be mean to her?

Would she find a friend?

I worried about some silly stuff:

What happened if she couldn't open her gogurt?

What if she didn't ask anyone to help her open her gogurt and then was hungry all afternoon?

So anyways, we got up at 6 am on Wednesday because the bus was scheduled to come at 6:51. We got dressed, ate breakfast and snapped some photos of our kindergarten girl.

And, because we knew little sister would still be sleeping, I asked my mom to come over and hang out at our house while we met Maddie at school.

And tia came!

We had to take the bulk of our pictures inside because it was POURING outside.

The bus came and the shoots whooshed open. Madeline immediately stepped back into me. She was a little scared but her friends went up so she took a deep breathe and hopped on. And, away she went.

I felt a small tightening of my chest but kept on. 

The mama's. Our big girls are gone!

Chris and I went to the elementary school to meet the bus. When Madeline got off the bus, we saw her before she saw us. And she was wide-eyed looking at the big school and all of the parents waiting for their kids. 

Then she saw Chris and I and took off running. (and so did her friends)

The school had some photo stations set up so we snapped one of the neighbor girls.

Then we told the girls to walk to their rooms. I wanted to follow them to make sure they could get there without us.

Can you even believe this? They just grabbed hands and went for it. Sometimes you need a little entourage to give you confidence!

We found Mrs. Cantrell's room and Madeline's seat.

Ready to learn!

And with that, we left her in her new school.

One last look back at the new school.

Cue a little catch in the throat.

I went home and worked all day while thinking about Maddie. And you know what? When that bus came she hopped off and shouted to Lizzy, "See ya tomorrow at the bus stop!" then told me that school was THE BEST and SO FUN and everything was GREAT.

She loved it! It honestly couldn't have gone any better I don't think. She has enjoyed telling us about her classroom, her new friends ("Lucy Kate's bus driver is Mr. Homer."), what she's learning ("Mommy, you raise your hand when you need to talk" and "Did you know there are four points a compass?"), and how nice her teachers are. And, she told me that Mrs. Cantrell even helps her open her lunch containers. HAHA. (Well, there goes that fear I had.)

So, while she was gone, I looked at this picture and had a pretty nice little cry. 

Madeline was born almost six years ago and completely changed our lives. Elementary school is the next step in her growing older. And, while I'm so excited for her, it's a little sad and scary too.

Kindergarten, we're coming for ya!