first day of school! first day of school!

Sofia was SOOOOOOOOOO excited for kindergarten to begin. There's been so much build-up to this day. Starting last year when "school readiness" was discussed in pre-school among the parents and teachers and ending with several kindy events (playdates and meet-the-teacher picnic last week). Sofia looked forward to the first day and woke up bright and early (and very chipper) this morning. Actually she is always chipper in the morning. Today she was extraordinarily so. Confident and enthusiastic and, in her own words "SO EXCITED!"

As we walk to the bus stop I can tell that excitement is turning into a little nervousness. Note the wringing of hands and furrow in her brow.

Our bus stop is crowded. At least 20 kids and their beaming parents congregate on the corner waiting for the bus to arrive. Some with roses that they will give to the bus driver. We chat with some neighbors. Sofia "looks scared" - says one of the kids - a first-grader. Sofia tugs my hand, pulling me to the steps of the bus. The bus driver asks her name and she says "Sofia" loud enough so that I can hear it too. Yay! She can be on the quiet side so this is small victory. She shares a seat with two kids she knows from the neighborhood. I wave, not able to see through the glass, not knowing if she sees me.

Then Jamie, Zara and I head to the car. We are going to meet her bus at the school and take photos, help her get settled. With all the traffic of first day drop-off and bustle of activity, parking looks sketchy, so Jamie drops me off so that I can meet Sofi's bus. Again, I see her nervousness as she gets off the bus. I'm nervous for her too at this point! We walk to the kindy classrooms and find her desk. I take a few blurry photos (and a couple for other moms and their kids).

This is her expression on meeting one of her classmates (a sweet little girl). She gets this worried expression from me. Sorry Sofi! But there is little time to fret. Sofi's teacher firmly (with a smile) tells the parents to go home and quickly takes control of the little kindergarteners.

I snap off a few more photos. One of Sofi after taking off her headband, which I got from Etsy, especially for her first day of school. She said it was too tight. Looking a little dazed here.

 And a sweet one of Jamie and Sofia. You can barely see Sofi's face, but I can tell she is smiling.

And then we step outside. I am relieved but antsy. No tears today. A friend snaps a photos of us. And then there were three.

After driving Jamie to work, I check in with a couple friends who also had their kids at kindy today. You know I'm antsy/emotional if I pick up the phone and call someone. I'm so not a phone person. Not wanting to go home, I swing by my favorite drive-through coffee place for an ice-blended mocha, then hit up Target for some retail therapy. I picked up a couple of purple tops for Sofi, a skirt and a pants. I also got a few memo pads, binder and page protectors to keep all of Sofi's kindy paperwork and artwork; purple ball, Crayola paints (for toddlers) and Olivia lift-the-flap book for Zara; a couple of dragonfly hooks for Sofi to hang-up her coat and backpack; nightlight lightbulbs for Zara's room; assorted screws (to finally install that Ikea curtain rod destined for Sofi's artwork); and some white polymer erasers, pencil case and cupcake luggage tag for Sofi.

Then  Zara and I finally head home for lunch, some playtime in the backyard. It was a surprisingly hot day (70s) so I took advantage of the weather and took some photos of Zara.

After she inevitably dirtied herself up, I gave her a sink bath and stripped her down to her diapers and took even more photos of her. Around 1:30, I returned to the mall. This time to pick up some tees for this class. I found some good deals in the clearance section. But I couldn't resist picking up a few more things for Sofi: a cardigan, a grey sleeveless dress with ruffles, a striped dress, a long-sleeved white blouse and a lavender tee with Chococat on the front. When I got to the cash register, I realized I forgot my wallet, so i had to drive home and back again. Luckily, Zara slept through the whole thing.

When 3:30 rolls around, it's time to meet Sofia at the bus. I load up Zara into our wagon taking more photos.

After a while, the bus rolls in and Sofia gets off all smiles.

A good sign, right?. Upon friendly interrogation, I realize that she was simply happy to be home and for the day to be over. Her favorite part of the day was "the two recesses". During quiet time, she opted not to read a book, but instead "just thought about warriors." She found the note I left in her lunchbox. Her best friend Hyunjin got a note from her mom too! Her overall impression: "so boring". She also has been known to say "books are boring" even though she LOVES books and reads everyday.  I suspect that she will warm up to kindergarten. She is excited to learn new things. But was a little disappointed that on her first day: she "didn't learn anything". Well, maybe they were getting all the logistics out of the way today. She made a cute hand-print piece of art. She wasn't brimming with the same excitement she woke up with (she even said she didn't want to go back to kindergarten tomorrow!), but at least there were no tears or major snafus. It's not the reaction we hoped for but it's only the first day, right?