Off to school they go

Monday was an exciting day at my house and not because of the eclipse.

It was the first day of school for my children. This year, was a little different as I realized I would no longer be driving my youngest son, John, to daycare or preschool.

Yes. He’s moved on to bigger and better things -- kindergarten.

He was so excited. He got up, got dressed, brushed his teeth and went and made his own breakfast, which consisted of a breakfast bar and a Pediasure, while I was in the shower. While I was getting ready, he popped into my bathroom and said “I’m all ready for school.”

I looked at him. He had a huge smile on his face and was wearing his red, white and blue t-shirt with a picture of a tiger that said “Roar Loud” on it. He had his matching red, white and blue checkered shorts on and his Spiderman socks. He was holding his Spiderman backpack with matching lunch box. He had already put the milk in the lunch box.

I said “You sure are.”

John said, “Can you please help me pack my lunch?”

I told him I would as soon as I was done getting ready, but apparently that wasn’t soon enough. He took off to the kitchen to pack it himself. I later had to repack it, but he was so excited to learn how.

My oldest son, Matthew, rolled out of bed and figured he had time to watch PBS kids. I guess he thought it was still summer. I let him watch 15 minutes before I shut it off and then told him it was the first day of school. He was so excited he ran and got his clothes on. He had picked them out the night before.

He wanted his hair spiked for the first day of school, so I sprayed it with water and applied product to get his hair to spike.

I then made Matthew an omelet for breakfast and after he was finished eating it, he went to brush his teeth. Somehow he managed to get toothpaste on the back of his shirt and so he needed to change his shirt. Once he picked out a new shirt, which consisted of three minions wearing moose costumes, he changed his shorts to match his shirt.

Soon, it was time to take photos. John somehow wound up with my camera and was taking pictures of me taking pictures of them.

After our mini photo shoot, it was time to walk down to the bus stop. On the way we saw a bunny. The boys wanted me to take a picture of it and I did. We took more photos at the bus stop. I then gave them both hugs and kisses before the neighbor’s girls came down to the stop.

As the bus approached, John got really excited. Hopping up and down and talking about how he was going to have so much fun.

The last photo I took was of my boys getting on the bus. John was first of course. He just couldn’t wait to go to school. As I turned around and walked back to the house, I started to cry. I was happy, sad and excited all at once. I can’t believe my youngest is officially a hot shot kindergartener.

The bus drove by and I waved as tears went down my face. I was proud of myself for being strong and holding it together until they were on the bus.

I can’t wait until they get home from school to tell me all about their first day.