My Baby, The Kindergartener

Ella’s first day of school had been a hot topic of conversation at our house for the past couple of years. Every time Ella saw the school bus go down our street, she’d ask me, “Mom, when I get big, can I ride the school bus?” I replied every single time, “Yes, Ella, when you get big you’ll get to ride the school bus.” Over time, the allure of the school bus morphed into the much anticipated first day of school. She’d see kids in our neighborhood getting on the bus (again, the bus) with their backpacks overwhelming them and ask, “Mom, when I get big, can I go to school?” To which I replied every single time, “Yes, Ella, when you get big you can go to school.”

As time went on and neither the bus nor school was happening yet, I started feeling a little sad for her, hoping she wouldn’t give up on her dreams so soon. I’d tell her to have patience. “Your time will come sooner than you think.”

The first dream-come-true happened when we signed Ella up for a few Y camps over the summer. Every Friday of camp was Field Trip Day, where, you guessed it; they got to ride the bus. I’ve never seen a kid more excited to step foot on that bus. Ella hadn’t a care where it was taking her; finally she was riding the BUS! That first field trip day, a camper arrived late (there’s always one), so the whole group had to sit, staring at that bright yellow school bus, until the girl showed up. Matt, Jaisa and I waited for 20 minutes until those wide-eyed, little 4-year-olds were allowed to single-file-it on that bus. We quickly discovered in that time of waiting that our child was definitely not the only one who put the bus on such a pedestal. Pictures were taken. It was a magical day Ella retold for weeks to come.

The second dream-come-true, to Ella’s dismay, did not partner with the first dream quite as she had been picturing in her head. Lesson number one: Life’s full of disappointments, kiddo. Ella learned she wouldn’t be riding the bus to school since we live too close for pick-up, BUT she WAS going to school at long last. Over the summer, Ella told virtually everyone she knew (and didn’t know) that she was going to school. We did the traditional back-to-school shopping—she picked out some cool pencils and got a Disney Princess notebook and folder (only to find out they didn’t need their own supplies but instead shared everything). Disappointment #2. No worries though, because those things have already come in handy at home.

The night before school, we stood in front of Ella’s closet and she picked out her favorite polka dot sundress. All I had to do was pray that the weather would be warm enough for her to wear it. It was.

I felt prepared. After all, class was only for 3 hours in the afternoon and only 4 days a week. Did I mention it was in the afternoon? Yeah. Not such a good idea. That’s what you get when you enroll last-minute (I’ll explain why that happened in a later entry). So there we were on the first day of school, the anticipation killing both of us as we wait for the morning hours to tick by until 12:30. But before we knew it, there we were—Mom, Ella and Jaisa in tow, walking up to the front doors of the school as I felt my throat tighten.

My baby was going to kindergarten. My BABY was going to kindergarten. (Okay, it was only 4-K, but still!)

I of course made Ella stand in front of the building so I could take a few pictures. She looked so proud. So grown-up. So ready to leave and start her big first day. The teachers came out to greet the eager students (some not so eager as well). Ella perked up her ears to listen for her name to be called. Finally, she heard it and looked at me as if to say “Could this really be it?” I gave her a smile, then an enormous hug and kiss, and told her to have a great day and I couldn’t wait to hear all about it (Remind me to tell you how that went). She ran over to her teachers to put on her name tag and then took hold of a rope sprawled out in the entry way for all students to grab as they were corralled into the building. The teachers assured us teary-eyed parents that the time would fly by, and Ella yeld out to me with a beaming smile, “Bye, Mommy, I love you!”

It took everything within me to yell back “I love you too!” and not turn into a puddle on the sidewalk instead. It wasn’t that it was hard for me to see her go; I had done it hundreds of times at day care. It was me being so proud of her… for finally being big enough to go to school.

As Jaisa and I walked away, I heard Jaisa say a soft “Bye-bye.” Bye-bye indeed. A door on Ella’s childhood closed that day, but wow, how many more just opened. But, please Ella, don’t “get big” too fast.

Next up: My Baby, The Teenager??