First Day of School ~ 2009

A few years ago, my sister Kerri introduced me to a Rascal Flatts song entitled "My Wish". I used it when making a photo montage for Mitchell's 3rd birthday. I cry every time I hear this song on the radio. I hope it's the song that we have our mother/son dance to when Mitchell gets married. I love this song and it sums up how I feel about having a child.

We've been counting down the days until August 10th...the first day of school. Back to school activities began when we went to Open House on Thursday, August 6th. Open House went much better than last year. Anything is an improvement over crying and hanging onto the door frame! We met his teacher (Mrs. Detweiler) and reconnected with some friends from Pre-K. A trip to see Ms. Rojas (the assistant from his Pre-K class) was high on our list of things to do. We were also pleased to find out that Mitchell's best friend, Andrew, is also in Mrs. Detweiler's class.

Over the weekend we got the rest of his school supplies and got everything ready for the first day of school. On Sunday night, I asked Mitchell if he was ready for Monday. And he said yes. I asked if he was nervous or scared about anything and he said nope. So I thought we were good to go!

Getting ready on Monday went smoothly. Since I needed to get to work, I dropped Mitchell off with the neighbors who were walking to school. But before we left, I got a few pictures.

He stood off to the side of the porch because he didn't want anyone to see me taking a picture of him. He also informed me that I would not be staying with him in his classroom.

New haircut, new shoes, new backpack, new clothes

Then we got a picture with the neighborhood children

I drove ahead to school to drop off some supplies and was there to greet Mitchell when he came in. Then the reality of being in kindergarten hit him. Much like his mom, Mitchell doesn't like new situations or change. He also wanted to be sure that he knew someone in his class so he wasn't all alone. Andrew wasn't there yet, but luckily he wasn't far behind us. But we went into the cafeteria to eat breakfast and by the time we got back, someone else was sitting beside Andrew. Mitchell's eyes filled with tears and he asked me not to leave him. That of course got the tears flowing for me. He was upset because he wanted to sit beside Andrew. All I wanted to do was hug him and cry my eyes out right along side of him.

I hope the days come easy and the moments pass slow.

That is My Wish for Mitchell.

I asked the teacher for her help and she moved Mitchell's name plate so he was sitting across from Andrew.

I left the school and tried to hold it together until I got to the car.

My wish for you
Is that this life becomes all that you want it to
Your dreams stay big, your worries stay small
You never need to carry more than you can hold.

That is My Wish for Mitchell.

I really thought everything was going to be easy since he'd been through Pre-K at Esther Jackson. But I guess every year is going to bring new challenges for Mitchell (and for us).

And while you're out there gettin' where you're gettin' to
I hope you know somebody loves you
And wants the same things too

That is My Wish for Mitchell.

The rest of the day went smoothly and he was excitedly talking about school and his teacher when he got home. He didn't even mention what happened in the morning. I, on the other hand, stumbled through the day in a daze hoping that he was OK.

I know that I'm going to blink and before we know it, Mitchell will be going off to college and the first day of kindergarten will be a distant memory. But I know that My Wish for him will never change.