First Day!

Finn was so excited this morning when he realized it was his first day of school.  He jumped out of the bed and said, "Come on, Mommy!  We need to get my backpack!" He was very disappointed when he realized that we actually had to get ready. Nanny M came over at her usual time and helped speed up the getting ready process, and we had time for pictures before heading off to school.

Last night we'd practiced his first morning of school (Finn is very in to role playing these days), and we talked about it again on the way to school.  I shared with him the one piece of advice I wish someone had told me years ago: it was everyone else's first day of school, and so he wasn't the only one who would be nervous this morning.  I'm not sure he really understood, but I'm going to be sure to repeat it every first day from now on!

We got to school just a few minutes before the doors opened, and as soon as they did, we headed down the hall to his classroom.  We hung up his backpack and stowed his lunch box, then he washed his hands before going into his classroom.  It took him a few minutes to decide on his seat, but by the time he sat down, he was ready for me to go.  I gave him a hug and a kiss and left him playing at a table with a bunch of other boys.  I'm not sure he even looked up as I walked out the door.  I made it to the car before the tears hit, but they passed quickly, thank goodness.

I took the entire day off, so I went to a coffee shop and worked on charts and other boring work stuff while watching the clock and wondering how Finn was doing.  Finally it was time to pick him up - I walked into his classroom right at 1pm, and he and another kid were the only ones left.  (I had no idea everyone else would be picking up their kids early!)  He saw me and his entire face lit up.  I picked him up and got the best and longest hug I've gotten in a long time.  His teachers said he'd had a good day and he said he was excited to come back again tomorrow.

We went from school to get ice cream while I tried to pry details about his day from him.  I even tried asking him specific questions (What was the best part of your day? Did you make any friends? What songs did you sing? Did you learn any letters?  What story did you hear today?) but he was not giving up much information.  One thing he was clear about was that he couldn't wait to get home to tell Zachary about his day. He gave Nanny M a hug and talked to her for a minute, and then ran straight over to Zachary and sat there talking to him for at least 5 minutes while Nanny M and I talked.  I love watching the two of them.

A few hours after we got home he started to play school, and it was there that I heard most of what happened.  He shared with me a lot of the rules ("You don't take your pants and shoes off to go potty," was my favorite) and said lots of things like, "Ok boys and girls, line up and follow your teacher!"  I heard lots of snippets about things that kids ("my friends") said during the day - I really can't wait to start hearing stories about all his classmates and watching him grow and learn.

He told me that his best part of the day was "when you came to pick me up!" but after a little prodding, he also said that the letter they learned today was "F".  "And when the teacher asked if anyone knew what the letter was, I raised my hand and said it was F for Finn!"  He gets his letter on his very first day?  Sounds like the perfect start to a good year.