After much anticipation and anxiety (mostly on my part), the day finally came for Collins to start kindergarten. They do things a little differently now than they did it when I was in school, and the incoming kindergartners go in before school officially begins for an "assessment" day. They are there from 8:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. to be assessed on their skills in reading and writing to see in which class they should be placed.
So that morning, we picked out a cute outfit, packed her first ever lunch box, and headed out the door toward Lacy Elementary...
Even though we had no idea what to expect on this first day, Collins was all smiles leaving for school. She honestly seemed really excited to go. When we arrived in the gym to register, that's when she got quiet and clung a little tighter to my hand. But I was really proud of her when we walked to the classroom she was assigned and said our goodbyes. There were no tears from our girl. She gave us a kiss and walked into the classroom okay with everything.
That was the really hard moment for me- telling her goodbye, being worried about how she would do and how she would feel, and then turning and leaving knowing there was not one thing I could do to help her. She was on her own for the next five hours. That's when the tears started flowing. Thank goodness for big sunglasses. Brian and I both struggled leaving school knowing that we had just dropped our baby off for the first time. It's an emotional process for sure- while we were so excited for her to go to Lacy, it's hard knowing that our little girl is growing up and things are changing. Letting go is really hard.
After drop-off and alerting all the family to how things went, things got easier. I did worry about her all day, but when Addie and I went to pick her up, she was really happy. A good sign! I didn't get much information out of her on how the day went, but she seemed eager to go back.
Luckily, she found her favorite friend at the end of the day...
So the assessment was on the Tuesday before Labor Day. She went back that Friday to "Meet her Teacher." She and I went together, and I anxiously scanned the different lists of kindergarten classes they had posted in the hall. The final list I scanned had Collins's name on it. She was going to be in Mrs. Dalrymple's class, and my heart sank when I realized that none of her friends were going to be in the class too. I did recognize one girl's name who Collins was in the 2's class at the Raleigh school with, but other than that, there were only new names. I thought it was actually a good thing that she and Reeves were not placed in the same class. They are so close that they wouldn't have tried to meet other new people had they been paired up, so I was happy she would have the opportunity to make new friends.
After we found her teacher's name, it was time to find her classroom and do some exploring....
She located where her desk and cubby would be, where the different learning centers were (science above), and got to meet Ms. Dalrymple (who remembered her name from the assessment) and her assistant, Mrs. Edwards. We ended up being the last ones in the classroom and got to know the teachers a little better. Collins told them about her being a wolfpack fan, and turns out Mrs. Dalrymple went to State. Collins told them about losing her tooth, and turns out Mrs. Edwards did the same thing when she was little.
I left feeling confident that kindergarten was going to go well, and that she would be happy there. Now just a long holiday weekend to enjoy before the first real day of school began!
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