Brooklyn’s First Day of Kindergarten

Well, it’s been a whirlwind, but we’re surviving this school thing so far! On Friday, we got an email saying that Brooklyn’s teacher was going to be Mrs. Patterson. After asking around, I heard from several people that Mrs. Patterson is a great balance of being fun and loving, but is also no-nonsense and keeps her class well under control. We were all excited after hearing good things about her!

Yesterday was Open House where we got to go up to the school and meet Mrs. Patterson and take her school supplies to her classroom. Brooklyn was excited and ready to meet her new teacher! Open House was insane….Mill Creek is a huge school, and there were tons of people there. But, we were able to find Brooklyn’s classroom and meet Mrs. Patterson (who seems great!). Brooklyn has her own locker in the classroom, and she wanted to unpack all of her school supplies into her locker without help :) She also found her desk with a bubble wand and coloring sheet waiting for her! I was thankful that we came for a tour of the school last week, so we already knew where the kindergarten hallway, cafeteria, and gym were.

Always excited about bubbles!

Found her seat with her name on it. She is the only kid in her class whose name starts with a “B” :)

Artwork from Open House

Last night was a strange one getting everything ready for school. It was just a weird feeling packing her lunch for the first time and getting her backpack all ready to go. I realized that I needed to make sure she knew not to throw away her ice pack and tupperware out of her lunch box, so we went over that last night :) The things you don’t think about teaching your child until it’s time for school! A couple of times yesterday, Brooklyn prayed thanking God for kindergarten and her new school. It was so sweet :)

We were allowed to walk Brooklyn in this morning for her first day of school, so we wanted to do that as a family. Since Open House was so crazy yesterday, we planned to get there pretty early so that we could actually find a parking spot. School starts at 7:40, and I think the doors open at 7:10. Travis and I got up at 5:30, and Brooklyn woke up on her own at 6:15. I guess she was excited, although she claimed she didn’t remember that this was her first day of school until we reminded her ;) We somehow managed to get all 5 of us ready and out the door by 7:15 (that’s definitely a record!), but before we left the house, Mommy had to take a few pictures, of course…

Sorry in advance for the picture overload, but I just can’t pick a favorite!

Rae Rae ordered Brooklyn’s super cute t-shirt! :)

I found this printable sign on Etsy for $4, and you can edit the wording and colors however you want! So, it can be re-used every school year for all three girls…at least as long as they agree to pose with a sign ;) I’m all about frugal AND cute!

Why does she look so big??

LOVE this picture of Brooklyn and her proud daddy!

My sweet, big girl! I feel like I rarely take any pictures with just one of the girls at a time anymore, so this will be a cherished picture for sure :)

We piled in the van at 7:15 and made the looong drive to the school…haha. Just kidding…it’s literally half a mile from our driveway to the school. I am so thankful that we live so close. We lucked out and got a parking spot in the front of the school as someone else was pulling out. There were already cars and people everywhere. Brooklyn told me before we left the house that she was feeling a little nervous, but she was definitely excited too.

Ready to walk in the front door!

Daddy told Brooklyn to lead the way! She did a good job of remembering where her hallway was and which way to turn to get to Mrs. Patterson’s room :)

Brooklyn was the first student to arrive this morning (they are doing a staggered start with the kindergartners, so only girls went today and boys go tomorrow), so we had a minute or two with Mrs. Patterson to ourselves :) She had a cute frame for Brooklyn to take a picture with, and Brooklyn was excited to put her lunchbox and backpack into her locker. She started to get clingy when we got ready to leave after a minute or two, but we gave her hugs and didn’t stick around long. I was afraid if we lingered that it would make saying good-bye worse :)

It was strange getting back home without Brooklyn there. Travis left right away to head to work, so it was just Savannah, Abigail, and me. I didn’t have time to cry or think about being sad though because Savannah started peppering me with non-stop questions and talking my ear off. She might have been enjoying having more of my attention already! :) I figured it would be good for my emotional state if we got out this morning rather than staying home in a “quieter” house, so we headed to Sprouts and then to Alisha’s for a morning playdate :)

Sprouts must have known that we needed free samples of cake to get through the day….haha

Sweet baby is just happy to be along for the ride!

It was so nice of Alisha to invite us over this morning! We really enjoyed playing outside and eating lunch at their house, and it was a good distraction from the fact that Brooklyn wasn’t with us. Sidenote: I surprised myself and never actually cried today. I got a little choked up on the way to Sprouts when we passed Chick-fil-a….haha. I think it was because we just ate there last week, and Brooklyn was with us then. If I start thinking about how things will never be the same again, that’s when it hits me. So I’m trying hard to focus on the positive and what an exciting time this is for Brooklyn.

Since we live so close to the school, my plan is that we will walk in the afternoons to pick her up rather than do car line or the bus. We were so excited to see her at 2:40, and she was glad to see us too! There are several other families from our neighborhood that walk home, so it’s neat to get to know some neighbors on the way there and back.

Savannah couldn’t wait to tell Brooklyn that we went to Carter’s house today to play, and it made Brooklyn cry before we even got out of the lobby. Whoops! She has definitely been more emotional today than I thought she would be. She told me that she cried after we left this morning “just a little bit….probably only for an hour” :) Since she has no concept of time, I’m assuming/hoping it was more like 5 minutes ;) I texted me Mrs. Patterson to see how Brooklyn did after hearing that she cried, and she told me that Brooklyn drank some “jitter juice” to chase her tears away ;) Brooklyn told me it was a green drink that everyone got to try, and it chased the “sillies” in your stomach away. She said it worked!

Brooklyn said she had a great day and is excited about going back on Thursday. Her favorite part about school today was singing songs. They apparently sang songs, had storytime, went to recess on the playground, drew pictures, had a short nap time, and had snack time. Brooklyn told me that she has a “sports teacher” in the gym, and they played a line leader game today that was fun. She said she tried the monkey bars on the playground, but most of the time she spent looking for a shady place that wasn’t so hot…haha. She also said that she tried not to fall asleep on purpose during nap time :) When I checked her lunchbox after we got home, her Rice Krispy treat was still in her lunch box. I was surprised—I figured with her newfound freedom, she would definitely eat dessert first. I asked her why she didn’t eat her Rice Krispy treat, and she replied, “Because I didn’t finish my lunch!” Haha…we have trained her well I guess ;) I’m sure it won’t be long before she’s eating dessert first just like every other kid, but for now it makes me smile that she’s still trying to follow our rules even when she’s away from us.

Tonight, when I was filling out a page in her school journal, I asked Brooklyn what she wants to be when she grows up. She thought about it for a minute and said, “A kindergarten teacher!” I think that’s gotta be a tell-tale sign that she had a great first day at school!