Her day started off great. She got up when her alarm went off - at 6:00 am! - brushed her teeth and got dressed all on her own then came downstairs (I was in the kitchen); she got her own breakfast and I said she could watch one show while she ate it. Just before we left to walk to the bus stop, we took the requisite first day of school photos and headed out to be at the stop just after 6:45. Of course the bus was late (figured it would be, first day), so we had about 15 minutes to chat with neighbors before it pulled up. Kaylee was happy, though a bit more reserved than usual - I figured nervous - but when the bus arrived, she got clingy and sad. I didn't see any tears, but she had a red face like she was fighting to hold them in and she wouldn't turn around for a picture as she climbed onto the bus. She was the last one to board the bus, too.
We had forgotten her name tag (all Kindergarteners were given one to wear the first couple days), so I wrote her name/teacher's name on an index card and told her to hold on to that in case anyone needed her information. So I think partly she was more nervous than she might have been because she didn't have her name tag.
A neighbor called later in the morning and said as they were walking their kids in, she and her husband had seen Kaylee following some other neighbor kids (who didn't know she was back there) down into the first grade hall. She said Kaylee looked lost and scared, so she asked if she'd like them to walk her to her classroom and Kaylee said yes and looked like she was about to cry, but didn't. She said they talked to her as they walked her to her room and by the time they got there she had calmed down and seemed fine.
Fast forward to bus drop off time. Talking to neighbors, waiting in the drizzle for the bus...Kaylee was the first one off at our stop and bounded down the stairs with a huge smile on her face, came and gave me a big hug and said she had a great day. Whew!
We walked home and I told her that Andy had picked out a card and present for her and we'd give it to her at home. (We'd stopped by Target and I let him choose a card from 3 options and he picked which bouquet from their selection.) She was so excited when he gave her the card and a big bouquet of flowers! She probably thanked him and told him 5 or 6 different times the rest of the day how much she loved the flowers. She even told him she was going to pick out a special present for him for his first day of school because it was so nice that he did that for her. :)
A few things she told me about the day...
*She loved the school lunch. She didn't want to take a lunch, so we looked at the menu and she said she wanted to eat there. She chose the PBJ with yogurt, graham crackers, fruit and potato smilie (sounds like a tater-tot like thing) and strawberry milk. She said she wants that every day. Way to have options, hah! The lunches actually do sound really healthy and I know she chooses and eats well, so we figure if she wants to eat there every day it's okay with us.
*She made a new friend. She was very worried when we saw the class list because she didn't know any of the kids. I reminded her that each year at preschool/preK so far she never knew any of the kids and she made friends, but I guess that didn't matter. :) She said, "guess what? I made a new friend already! I didn't think I would make a friend so so fast already!" And I told her I was pretty sure she'd make even more as she got more chances to talk to more of the kids in her class.
*She really likes her teacher and the "other teacher" (paraprofessional) is nice, too. She said something about the parapro only being there until their normal one gets back from a vacation ("maybe this Sunday, but I'm not really sure"), so I'm not quite sure about all that. I thought we'd met the parapro at Open House a couple nights ago, but maybe she was only a fill-in for the week?
*She didn't get to play outside on the playground because it was raining but her BFF's class (1st grade) did get to (it started raining late morning). She did have P.E. in the little gym, and tomorrow will do so in the big gym.
*She was scared and cried, but just a little, then she had fun.
*She tried to recite the classroom rules to me (without me asking anything about them). They were in a binder that will come home with her daily. She had told me 3 of the 5 and when she stumbled on one I looked in the binder. Once I reminded her of part of another she remembered it, too. And she got an "Awesome Possum" award today - I guess when they want you to be quiet and have your head down on your desk, they say to play dead like a possum.
It was also cute that she told Ella she missed her, then asked Ella if she missed her, too. Then she asked me if Ella cried a lot today (because she missed Kaylee) and I said she didn't really have time because she took a long nap, had a meal then we went shopping and she took a nap when we got home, then Kaylee was home. So Kaylee said, "hmm. Did she moan more than usual?" So I said maybe she did a little more than usual and Kaylee ran back to Ella and said, "aww, I'm sorry you missed me so much! I missed you, too, but now that I'm big I have to go to kindergarten." haha!
So although she got off to a bit of a rough start, overall it sounds like Kaylee had a fantastic first day of Kindergarten! (Or maybe I should say a "fintastic" first day - they are the Shiloh Point Sharks, after all!)
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