It's a Sweet Life: First Day of School, First Day of School

Friday, August 14, 2009

First Day of School, First Day of School

I woke up this morning thinking of Nemo. The excitement of that little Clown Fish as he swum around chanting, "First day of school, first day of school." Even as a teacher I still get the jitters the night before school starts. Last night I had more jitters than any of my own first days of school. The difference, today is Haley's first day of school. She's over the moon thrilled. She's been so excited, she's been an absolute mass of giggles for days. Everyday she has asked how many more days until COOP. This morning she woke up and asked, "Is today finally the day I go to COOP." Excitedly, I said YES!

After a slow start of actually getting out of bed, she got on her outfit, pulled on her socks, let me fix her hair (with butterfly hair ties of course), and ate her breakfast...all without a fight. The excitement and anticipation flowed from every ounce of her little body. We grabbed her lunch from the fridge and I got to snap a couple of shots before we headed to school. Once we got here, she skipped to my classroom so I could drop off my bags and then skipped to her own little corner of Peoria High School. We walked in, I signed her in, and she was off (she almost forgot to even say goodbye). She sat down at a table with a couple of kids and started playing. I'm so proud of her. I honestly wasn't sure what to expect. My baby absolutely blew me away. It was encouraging and a little sad to see my baby walk so confidently and independently into a whole new world of experiences. She’s ready…I sure hope I am.

Attached are a few pictures I quickly snapped this morning…I’m sending my student spies around throughout the day to catch a few more ;-)