Monday, September 14th, a date we have all been counting down to for months, finally arrived.
Jacob chose his breakfast, (honey nut cheerios), and got his backpack ready, with snack and puppy inside. (Snack for eating, puppy for survival). We got out the new 'back-to-school' clothing, courtesy of Grandma, and put on our new, red, robot shirt. (red is the FAVORITE colour right now...).
We made a hasty exit and scurried off to daycare, to drop off Grace and to experience the first bus ride to school. (editor's note, I was absolutely forbidden to take pictures of this monumental day, so have only some blurry shots of an unsuspecting Jacob. No traditional pose for our scrapbook this year...maybe in grade 1?)
Because we were late in arriving at daycare, we walked in the door, put away the lunch boxes and were told it was time to line up for the bus, no time to play today. Jacob immediately burst into tears. I lined up with him and a dozen other kids to await the imminent arrival of the bus, and spent the whole time trying to convince him that he would live through this experience.
When the bus pulled up, the kids all headed out the door and started filing on. Jacob and I moved off to the side so we could manage this event together, once everyone else was on the bus. I even asked the bus driver if I could ride the bus with him, to ease his anguish, but apparently I would be a liability, so, No. (Probably for the best in the long run, right?)
I walked Jacob onto the bus, sat him in a seat with his best friend, Ryan, and bolted off the bus before he could follow me. Back turned, I sniffled back the tears that were threatening, and turned to wave goodbye.
I hopped in my car and beatled around the corner to try and meet the bus at the school. I'm pretty sure I swore out loud at some other drivers who were in my way, I was so anxious to be there, as promised.
I arrived at the school just in time to see the kids start to exit the bus, and here came Jacob, no tears apparent, Yay!.
We headed over to the school doors to line up before the bell rang. Jacob was looking pretty scared at this point, and I just kept talking about how much fun this would be and reminding him of the order of things when we walked in the door.
We made it into the class, after putting away our shoes, and found his locker. He hung up his bag, put on his indoor shoes and, heels dragging, headed for the carpet. We picked out a book, and sat on the rug. "I need to sit on letter J, Mommy."
All the parents were directed to leave the kids and sit at the back of the room to observe the start of the day.
I giggled at the looks on those faces when all the directions started coming at them in French! Total confusion. But the teacher is wonderful at pointing to pictures, adding a few English words as needed, and throwing in her own sign language to make her point understood.
And my brave little Jacob, followed. He sat at the back of the pack, to keep his eye on everyone, but he participated! He chimed in with counting out loud and learning the colour of the day, "Rouge!"
I was so proud.
We had a bit of a hiccup when the teacher announced it was time for parents to leave, he came over and grabbed my leg, forbidding me to go. Madame said I could stay, and I did, for another 15 minutes. Then, when he was busy painting 'la pomme rouge', I snuck out the door.
The rest of the day for me was spent waiting to hear how he survived the rigors of school life without me.
I rushed to daycare to retrieve him and Grace, and he was still alive! Miracle of all miracles!
He wasn't mad that I left without saying goodbye, he wasn't damaged by his experience and was actually quite pleased with himself.
You see the emotional issues here are mostly mine, right? I've made that clear, right?
All in all, we made it. We've survived the new beginning, just as I suspected we would, and with less tears than I expected.
Way to go, little man. Today, as with many other days, you are my blessing.
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