First day of First Grade: "Awesome"

The day didn't start out as I had expected. It was wet. It was really wet. It was so wet even psycho-walker Mom decided that I should drive Cam to school today. Of course a lot of parents drove their kids to school today so considering where we parked, we half drove-half walked.

I took Cam to his spot in the gym where the kids wait for their teacher, gave him a big smooch and went back home to wake the girl for her day. I'm thinking positively about the school year. I think this is the year for the boy to relax, have fun and learn. If he lets himself learn how to relax, his enjoyment of everything will jump.

The best part of the day was when I was working late and I called to check on how Cameron's big day went. The very first thing he said was it was "AWESOME!" He met new friends, saw old friends and he has a new desk mate who doesn't really speak English. He thinks she's from Korea but doesn't remember. I challenged him to help her speak English and see if she can help him learn Korean. His first task: Learn how to say hello in Korean. I think that's cool.

My little boy is a big Kindergartener

I just sent my boy of to his first big day of school! He was excited... Until he realized the walk includes some hills that can be a little tiring. I'm really happy that we can walk there... We met up with some neighbors along the way who are coordinating an official "walking school bus." The idea is you get enough grown ups and kids together that it's a safe and coordinated effort to get to school. I like that. We were already committed to walking to school so why not make it a social arrangement!

Cam was with us at work yesterday when one of our students asked him if he was excited about starting school. He said: "Yeah I'm excited. But my mom is REALLY excited." Dang that's funny. He had spent all day yesterday telling me how excited he was about going to school... I'm wondering if he was just humoring me.

By the way -- no tears from Cam... And I didn't cry either. On my walk home I got a bit nostalgic about my little baby boy. I'm proud of how he's growing up. I'm a little overwhelmed with the concept of my involvement in the public school system for the next 16 years. But I'm also excited to work with Cam's new teacher and help him build a good solid base for his education.