Elijah's First Day of School

All in all, I think we had a very successful first day of school. Scottie got a sub for Eli's special day, and he confided in me later that he stayed home to support me. It did throw me for a loop, and I felt upside down for most of the day. But, I survived and I feel worlds better today. We started yesterday morning at Mike and C's, a yummy local restaurant right around the corner from Eli's new school. We tried to make yesterday as festive and positive as possible. Scott was talking about how people should celebrate the beginning of school, not the end. So, I think we may have started a tradition. Eli was feeling pretty nervous at breakfast and was cuddling up to Daddy, which Scott loved. I think his Mickey Mouse pancake and bacon helped him get through the morning, too.



Before I found out that Scott was taking the day off to spend with us, I had asked Diane to come and help me drop off Eli for the first time. I was specifically worried about trying to control and supervise Keira and be able to give Eli the attention that he needed, too. Keira absolutely loves Eli's new classroom filled with kids, high school girls, toys, stairs and a giant slide. We decided to invite Diane to come with us that morning even though Scottie was there to help with crowd control. It was nice to share the special morning with her, and we got the added benefit of a photographer. She took a picture of the four of us in front of the high school before we headed inside. If you look closely in this picture, you can see Keira's fat top lip. She is our adventurous one. We went to Chick-Fil-A the night before for some ice cream. She decided that she could climb up the giant stairs and go down the slide on our laps. She was in hog heaven. Unfortunately, on the fourth or fifth trip up the stairs she lost her footing and took a header into the stair in front of her. I caught her before she fell down the stairs backwards, but I wasn't able to save her lip.


Once we got inside the classroom, Eli wasted no time putting away his backpack and getting down to the business of playing. When we left, he had moved on to the play dough table. When I bent over to say goodbye, he begged me not to leave and said he was sad. It crushed me. My eyes started tearing up and I had to turn away from him quickly so that he wouldn't see me cry. But, I survived, and he did, too.




When we came to pick him up at 11:30, he greeted me with a huge grin and hug. When I asked him how he liked school, he said, "not very fun." I think he got a little confused about the centers. He stayed away from the math center because he thought they were going to do Ken Kens (adult math puzzles that Scottie and I work on.) And, he thought at the reading center they'd make him read by himself, and he can't read. Scottie and I explained about what would really be at the centers, so I'm hoping for a better report when I pick him up today.

In the afternoon, Scott emailed Eli's teacher, Ms. Via to ask about the rules regarding snack and show and tell. When she emailed back she said that Eli had a great first day. She said he was very smart and was full of lots of great observations. She said they really enjoyed him. That was nice to hear, and I hope Eli shares her enthusiasm soon!