First Day of School

The first day of school!! And with that, the summer is over. And apparently, so it my time with Claire, Sophie, and Johnny being my little kids. I now have a 5th grader, 3rd grader, and 1st grader. All three are in school all day!! I won't lie, I've been looking forward to having quieter days with just Joey and me. And for the first time in years and years, I won't have a middle of the day pick-up from preschool or kindergarten. It's going to be awesome. :)

I set my alarm to get me up early enough that I would have plenty of time to help the girls get ready for the day. As I woke up, I had a text from my sister Heather. She sent a picture of her daughter Lila all dressed and ready for her first day of kindergarten. And then it hit me like a ton of bricks...today would have been Luke's first day of school. He would have started kindergarten. And I had forgotten all about it. The tears and guilt kicked in, but I stifled them long enough to get the kids off and preserve the excitement and happiness of the morning. And Joey was kind enough to stand in for Lukey when I took our annual porch picture. :)

We walked to school that day, allowing me the chance to make sure each kid made it to where they needed to be. We dropped Claire off at Señor Tapia's portable first, and she was immediately surrounded by her friends. I might have had to throw a few elbows to get a kiss goodbye. :) Next we took Sophie to Ms. Larsen's portable to meet her before going to Señor Borja's portable where she would begin her day, but Ms. Larsen wasn't there. Sophie was disappointed, but only until Hallee showed up. She was fine after that, and I was able to leave and make my way to the 1st grade classrooms with Johnny. 

Johnny was starting out in Señora Mora's classroom, and he was ready to go! He was a little nervous about the amount of Spanish that he was going to be encountering, but we talked about it and he decided he was ready for some challenge. The hardest part for him was saying goodbye to Joey!

Then I walked home...and cried and cried. I missed Luke so much, and I felt so horribly guilty that I had not only forgotten that it would have been his first day of school but the fact that I had been very vocal for weeks about my excitement over not having a kindergarten or preschool pickup during the day. All the while not realizing that if my baby had LIVED I would have that pickup! Golly, this grief thing is hard sometimes. Danny called, and after sobbing into the line for a few minutes, he worked his husband magic and I was able to calm down. 

After that, Joey and I enjoyed the day together. I have to admit, the quiet in the house was a welcome change to the chaos of summer. The kids all had a wonderful first day at school, and we're all looking forward to what this school year will bring!