A day of firsts

Last week (it was "yesterday" when I started drafting this post) we had the first of two experiences I am positive will be a routine part of our future:

The first was our first visit from the police relating to Collin. My dad was at our house to get an old cell phone from Khoi, to replace my mom's which wasn't working well. He took the SIM card out of the phone and handed the phone to Collin to play with. Apparently that does not disable the phone from making emergency calls. They heard "911, what's your emergency" and simply closed the phone. By my dad's account, not two minutes later the police were knocking at the door. I'm glad I'm getting something out of those scoundrels for the annual fee I pay to those raketeers each year.

And the second was Maddy's first phone call from a boy. A little history is required here so that you can appreciate the depth of this relationship. We were walking into a book fair early last fall when Maddy said "there's Ian" and immediately after I heard another mom say "is that Maddy?" Then the mom approached me and proceeded to tell me how adorable my Maddy is, and that her son, Ian, just adores Maddy and that she is his first crush (and at this Ian's mom pattted her heart). I thanked her and told her that Maddy has talked about Ian too. Maddy continued to talk about Ian almost daily. She even mentioned wanting to have a playdate with him. A month or two later my sister took Maddy to a Christmas lunch at the Spaghetti Factory and Ian was there with his family. She took this adorable picture of them together.



Doesn't he look proud (if not a little possessive) to be in Maddy's company? Then two months later at the class Valentine's Day party I heard Ian say "Maddy, Maddy! I have a special Valentine for you!" So you get that this relationship has been developing for some time. Maddy and I were just getting to yet another book fair last week when an unknown number called my phone. It was Ian, calling for Maddy. There wasn't much talking going on, but Maddy did at one point say "So, I can't wait to see you tomorrow." I nearly injured myself trying to contain my laughter! The next day she came home with a little note with Ian's phone number and hearts on it. Ah, first grade love!

First Day of First Grade

I thought that on Maddy's first day of school I would run right home from dropping my baby girl off to her first official day of ALL DAY school and blog about it, but here I am more than two weeks later and just barely getting around to it. On a side note, I'd like to say that if time continues to kick my arse like this, I'll be retired before I know it and I'll finally get around to doing all the things I need to do (like mailing my grandma the pictures and dried peaches I was supposed to mail her back in June...).

We started Maddy's first day of first grade the same way we started her first day of preschool and kindergarten - with a made-from-scratch breakfast of her choice. This year it was French toast. (I know it looks like she doesn't like it, but she did - bad timing on the picture.)

Then the traditional photograph of her standing on the stairs with her cute little backpack (wait, that thing is HUGE!).





Then, the moment I'd been dreading daily since the last day of kindergarten: the drop off. I mustered up my courage, put on my aren't-we-totally-excited-to-start-first-grade! face, and off we went. We didn't know what the protocol was and I had intended to get there early to find out, but in true Kim fashion I had the start time wrong and when I thought I was heading out 10 minutes early, I was really headed out just on time.



We got to school with no clue of where to go, but found the class lists posted on the front doors of the school. And then we found Mr. Tuckett's classroom without any trouble. And I did fine, at least until she walked into the classroom. I saw her walk in somewhat hesitantly and look at the big desks, but then she saw someone she knew and ran around to the other side of the room. She didn't even look back at me! I got out of there fast, before I had a complete meltdown. It was strangely difficult to go home to a house without her. I don't think I've ever taken a day off of work and not spent it with her. I tried to be a big girl, but I just watched the clock all day, waiting for it to be pick-up time. She did great. Of course she did. Her favorite part of the day was lunch. She had friends from kindergarten in her class. She came home in one piece, and with homework, and she was still excited about first grade. What was I even worried about? Now I think I'll be okay until I pick her up from the last day of sixth grade, and then I'll cry and start worrying all over again!