I feel fairly confident that most of you will know what I am going to write about this week. Yes, you guessed it… the first day of school. Before I start though, how many of you thought I would cry when I dropped Kiera off at school? Well, I am not going to tell you just yet. You’re going to have to read to find out if I did or didn’t cry.
Kiera has been really excited about starting Kindergarten. Saturday, I took her to the store to pick out her backpack. As we walked down the aisle, I told her to pick whichever backpack she wanted. “I already have a Barbie backpack,” she responded.
If I had offered her to pick any shoes she wanted, there would have been no argument. I couldn’t believe I had to encourage my child to buy a backpack. “Your backpack is from last year and it has a rip in it, baby.”
She accepted that argument and we moved further down the backpack aisle.
“Oh, look at those, honey,” I said as I pointed out the Frozen and princess glittery backpacks.
She gave them a quick once over before responding, “Those are cute! But, they are for little kids.”
I felt my head swirl a little as I thought about my ‘little kid.’ “Well… ok. They have more over there,” I replied as I motioned further down the aisle.“Oh! I like this one!” She exclaimed as she pointed to a floral backpack that resembled what a junior high or high schooler would carry.
“That is pretty,” I hedged. “What if we keep looking and if we can’t find another one you like, we will come back for it?”
Agreeing with me, we walked around until we stumbled on another row of backpacks. It was here that we found the perfect compromise between little kid and big kid backpack. She quickly swooped a black backpack with hearts off the shelf and hugged it to herself. I quickly tossed it in the basket, thankful for the little hearts that scattered across the backpack.
The first day of school came quickly. I grabbed the arsenal of items it takes to wake Kiera and headed into her bedroom. Normally, I can talk out loud to her while she is asleep and she will not budge. I usually have to enlist the help of the iPad and a cartoon to get a response.
I decided I would try this once to say something to her and see if I could get a response. “Guess what? Today is the first day of school,” I said in a sing-song voice.
Amazingly enough, there was movement… She pushed herself up from the bed, blinked her eyes for a moment and mumbled, “The first day of school.” She wiggled herself into a sitting position and threw her little body into mine for a hug. “The first day of school!”
From there, things went fairly smoothly. We were able to get dressed and out the door in time for a few first day school pictures and get Kiera to school in plenty of time. As we pulled up to the school door, Aaron told her to have a great day and kissed her as she climbed out of the truck.
I held her hand and walked her down the sidewalk to the building entrance. I was impressed with her and myself. She was walking confidently up the steps and I didn’t feel one single tear.
We walked in and went straight to her classroom where her teacher, who hugged her and welcomed her to the class, met her. Her teacher and I visited for a couple of minutes. Kiera, who had over the last few minutes, become less confident, tugged on my shirt so I would lean down.
“Yes, baby?” I leaned down so she could talk to me.
“Is tomorrow a school day too?” She asked.
I took a deep breath and replied, “Yes, baby. Is that ok?”
She looked at me with serious eyes and answered solemnly, “yes.”
Her teacher took her by the hand and led her to her cubby so she could put her backpack up. I stood in the doorway of her classroom, watching their exchange. And out of nowhere, the tears started to form in my eyes. I know her teacher was giving me an escape, but I couldn’t make my feet move. I hadn’t officially told her good-bye!
I blinked the tears back as Kiera turned around and put a huge smile on my face. “Come give me love bye! You’re going to have a great day!” I excitedly announced as I hugged her tightly. She smiled at me and told me she loved me before moving back to her teacher.
I walked out of the classroom and headed down the hall to the door. A wise friend had told me Sunday that when I dropped Kiera off that I shouldn’t look back. I heard those words echo in my head as I turned and glanced back behind me.
That’s when the second round of tears hit. There was my baby, standing in the hall, looking back at her teacher as her teacher explained where she could go to get her breakfast. She didn’t see me look back, thankfully.
I made it to the door before the first tear fell. I climbed into the passenger seat of the truck as my mind screamed, “She’s too little!!! That hall is soo big!!!” I allowed myself a couple of sniffles before I got myself under control.
Of course, as Aaron and I knew she would, she had a great day. She was all smiles when I picked her up after school. She couldn’t wait to tell me about the apple juice that looked like an apple and how yummy it was.
She is ready to go back for her second day. I’m ready too… well… for the most part.
Rowonna McNeely is a graphic artist for Willie’s T’s Screenprint & Embroidery. She is a mother of a five-year-old girl and step mother of two adult girls. Her crazy life includes a dog, Sloane and psychotic cat, Gracie. Both females. She is married to her prince, who is outnumbered by the opposite gender.
