Well the time has finally come for school to start again - and we had a very eventful first day! 6 years ago Addi's school implemented a program called 1st day celebration - it involves 1 relative going to school with the child for the first 2 hours of school. Thankfully Shari could watch Kam while I went with Addi to her 1st day of all day school. She was so nervous last night and would not stop talking because she was so nervous. This morning she was driving me crazy telling me every 5 minutes mom we've got to go we're going to be late!! Let me tell you when I woke her up at 6:15 to start getting ready she took a 5 minute shower.... and anyone who has been around Addi knows that's like a millisecond for her - she usually takes 30 minute showers and you basically have to FORCE her to get out. Needless to say she was SO excited! She wanted to ride the bus so bad but since I had to go to class with her I told her she'd have to wait until tomorrow. So tomorrow she has to get up at 6 to be on the bus by 7 - my new routine means I have to be up by 5:30... yay... Anyways, we got to school and found her seat she colored a picture while we waited for all of the kids to arrive. Then we made "Wanted" posters - the theme in their school this year is "The Best in the West" so it's all cowboy/cowgirl themed. (She of course LOVES this) So we made a poster with her picture, her Alias name, what she wants to be when she grows up, and what she was wanted for. (The things she is good/excels at) All of the school is making these and they'll be hung a long the walls in the school. After that we went to an assembly where the staff put on a play where they rode horses and "herded" cows (parents). They talked about bullying and how you need to stick up for kids that are being bullied - the staff informed us that they would be doing a social interaction play once a month until the end of school. I think this is an AWESOME idea - they should have it in EVERY school. When the assembly was over we went to a classroom where we all learned a line dance (students & parents) for the school to perform. We practiced for about 35 minutes and then headed to the football field to perform, the parents sat in the stands while all of the classes (K-6) performed the line dance on the football field. It was a lot of fun, and I had no idea how big a deal this 1st day was - I mean the stands were FULL of parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, brothers/sisters and family friends. Next year I'll have to invite everyone who can come to it because it was great and Addi felt MUCH better about having me there with her on her 1st day. I cannot believe how grown up she is - I got a little teary eyed but kept my compsure so I wouldn't embarass her. I don't know what it is about those life changing moments that really make you stop and go "Oh my gosh, what happened to my baby!" but they sneak up on you.
She came home and reported that her first day was "AWESOME!" I asked her what her favorite thing was and she said, "Mom, we get 3 recesses from now until highschool! That is one more than we had last year... and that is so cool!" She also made some new friends (of course) and was glad to see a lot of her old friends from last year. The "Relief Society Group" (Iris, Addi & Milee) were split up a little this year and only Iris is in Addi's class. But, she is very excited to ride the bus because Milee will be on there and they are already talking about saving each other seats. She is going to have homework EVERY night and she has to read at least 160 books this year (which is EASY) but she really loved the math games they have been playing in class. I'm excited to see how far she comes this year - Mrs. Johnson is an awesome teacher and she is super nice. Luckily Addi knew her from before because her daughter is in Addi's clogging class, so she wasn't AS scared to start school. Good luck Addi I know you'll do so great!
