Welcome to Kindergarten!

Today was the day.

The First day of Kindergarten!

We were very excited.


Yesterday we had our Meet and Greet with Jack's Teacher.

She was very nice.

We tested the facilities

inside and out.

We were READY!

So you can imagine my surprise when I had to bribe him out of bed this morning.....

He reluctantly got in the shower when we told him he was going to have a "special" breakfast with Daddy before his big day.

And....

He was excited to put on his new Back to School outfit.

*side note* As you grow up, you never really know what traditions from your upbringing will stick and what won't.  Sometimes you think your Mom is crazy, and then you find yourself doing the same things she did.
One of those things that has stuck is that my Mom always had us lay our clothes out the night before.  It's quite the time saver!  I still do it to this day....(I  have even rubbed off on Clay..)  So of course...we laid out our brand new "Back to School" outfit.  

Which brings me to another tradition.

Back to School shopping.
Growing up I LOVED Back to School shopping.  So when we were emailed the Kindergarten supply list I couldn't WAIT to get to Target and buy those supplies.
AND
New clothes for School.
  I always looked forward to August and the purchase of socks, and underwear and new Jeans and shoes....and...well you get the idea...

And Jack believe it or not, is more Heidi than Clay in this area.  Jack is a fan of new clothes.  And the occasional "Look at what we bought at the store today" fashion show. ( I knew I was in there somewhere..)

Jack requested his favorite turkey and cheese lunch be put in his new sandwich holder.

Off we went!
*tradition #3*  Annual school photo on front lawn.
(I secretly loved this tradition growing up....i'd groan and moan, but they are some of my favorite photos to look back on)

We wanted Jack's first day to be like all of his days to come, so he started in Daycare.

He lined up immediately and got right into the routine.
I was SO proud.

Clay and I probably stayed longer than we should have.  We were talking to his new daycare provider.....and when he noticed we were still there, he ran over and asked if he could go home with us.

I had been so strong until that moment.  I started to think about how much change he is about to go through.  New people, New places, New schedules.  I felt terrible.

I explained that this is just were he had to stay until he would go to his fun new classroom and see his new teacher.

He looked up at me with his huge tear filled eyes and asked "How many minutes until I see my new teacher?"

I looked at the clock and said "50 minutes"

He put his head down and said "Okay...." and then quickly looked back up and said "and how long until you come and get me?"

My eyes immediately filled with tears.  I couldn't speak. I felt awful.

Clay quickly said "Well be here at 3 buddy! You are going to have the best time!"

Jack thankfully had not noticed my tears.  He seemed pleased we would be coming back for him, and satisfied that only 50 minutes stood between him and Kindergarten. He turned and got back in line.

I knew it would be hard to see him off to Kindergarten, but I didn't realize it would be as tough as it was.  He seemed so grown up today.  Ready for anything.  I felt like he no longer needed me.

He was a now a Big Kid.

and then for one quick minute, there he was....my baby...needing my reassurance for just a moment.

3 o'clock couldn't get here fast enough today.  I was so eager to hear how his day went.

When we walked up, we were greeted by this face

and this:
"Mom!  It was AWESOME! You don't have to take a Nap in Kindergarten!"

And that was that.

Jack loves school.

Since today was Jack's big day we told him we would take him where ever he wanted for dinner.

I guess the First day of School really does call for the Golden Arches.

Congrats Jack Man!