Emerson's First Day of Kindergarten

Blink...I'll never do it again.

I just can't get over how fast five years went by and now Emerson has entered the realm of elementary school. If I blink again, I may just be staring at a man ready to go off to college. An unsettling thought.

Truly, I'm very excited and happy for this new leap in life. He is so ready for Kindergarten and happy to go. I just need to get over all my mommy feelings and let the boy grow : )

They day started by me making pancakes as a special breakfast, at which Emerson said "Pancakes? I'd rather just have cereal." Lesson learned, don't try so hard.

Jesse delayed going into work so he could walk with us to drop off Emerson. Emerson loved that we all got to go with him. And I love how easy it is to get to the school from our house.

That heat though! We were all sweating and panting by the time we got there, and this was at 8 a.m.
 At this point, I started to rethink this whole walking thing and wished we lived further away so he could just ride the bus, lol.

Emerson walked right in, gave his teacher some flowers, set at his desk, and started coloring. I lingered for just a minute.

 

 

And then we left. For both Jesse and I it felt strange as we walked home without him. We stopped and talked to a neighbor and she said "Aren't you missing one today?" That's probably when it hit the hardest. You know, as if I had sent him away forever : )

Henry and I both didn't really know what to do with our day. The saddest part was watching Henry wander around aimlessly trying to figure out what to do without his buddy. Blake could have cared less and was happy to be fed and napped, typical baby.

Pick up was another story. I waited across the street with the other moms, he saw me and waved (very excited to see me). He was all smiles until he reached me and I gave him a big hug. I could tell as he buried his head deeper into my leg that the tears were coming, and boy did they.

 

What should have been a quick 10 minute walk home turned into a 25 minute walk home due to the endless meltdowns, tears and tripping over himself. I made Blake forfeit his stroller so Emerson could ride. And did I mention that heat? If I thought 8 a.m. was bad, 4 p.m. was a furnace.

We made it home, he laid on the couch and I was finally able to get him to calm down with some special ice cream. Then he opened up about his day. How he didn't cry, made a new friend named Jacob, played with REAL musical instruments with Mr. Wallace, who also goes by Mr. Waffles (que fits of giggles).

After all that, I finally got that moment of peace that he was going to be OK this year.

Grow, Emerson, grow. Don't ever let me stop you : )