Firsts, part 4: The one you've been waiting for!

From August 28 to September 4, my heart got exhausted. So many firsts, so many smiles and tears. And the biggest emotions came with the "last first"... Roo's first day of school.

As you may know, I fought to keep Roo from going to school last spring. The way that Early Intervention is set up in our county, the therapists come to our home for visits for the first two years. Once a child turns 2, though, he/she is "supposed" to attend a toddler class at our local DD school, and all of the therapy takes place there. This is not a parent/child class--this is kids only, with the teachers, two mornings a week, including lunch.

This was NOT going to happen last spring.

No way was I sending my 18-pound 2-year-old who couldn't walk or talk. No way did he need that interaction with other two-year-olds more than he needed his time with me (especially since we are at church 1-3 times per week). So his therapists continued to journey to our home through the spring and summer.

BUT, I assured them, once school started in the fall... we would take the school path. Roo could attend classes there once my big kids were in school.

It seemed like a good idea last February. On Tuesday, though, I wasn't so sure. Still, the bus was coming. (The bus!!!) And now my 21-pound 2 1/2-year-old who can't walk and knows just a few words was going off to school.

Check out this big boy!!!

 

 

Hanging out with Daddy...

 

 

Another first day, another family photo...

 

I love this shot of Monkey with Nana (my mom)...

 

 

Headed to the bus stop! (We live on a small, private road that is too small for busses, so we have to walk out to the "main road" for the kiddos to catch the bus.) Daddy was headed right back to work after the bus came (or so I thought--more on that later), so he drove out to the stop.

 

Look at that face!

 

Nana & Papa (my parents) came for every "first day", but this was the first time I got a picture of them all together...

 

Gram (my mother-in-law) came for all the firsts too! Again, this was my first time grabbing a photo of her with all the kiddos, though...

 

 

Here it comes... oh, boy...

 

Technically, I can just hand him off to the aide at the door, but she was nice enough to let me come on and put him in the car seat.

 

 

Look at that big boy, heading off without me!

 

 

 

Yes, if you are wondering, I cried. A lot. And then I cried some more. And then I moved on with my morning. And then I cried some more. For months I have been looking forward to having some time to myself to get things done... but the house just seemed so empty with them all gone!

 

But the real issue for me was the communication. When my big kids get home from school, the first thing we do is sit down at the counter, have a snack, and talk about their day. As I was loading Roo into the car seat, I realized... he can't tell me about his day. This sucks.

 

And about the time that I finally got it together and started cleaning the kitchen, the door opened. Mr. Fantastic earned his name once again. He came in with this:



 

He's a keeper, I tell ya!

 

And as for the communication, I was touched to find a notebook in Roo's bag with information about his day AND ten pictures of him from the morning! What an unexpected blessing to get a glimpse into his day! We may survive this after all. ;-)

 

And OK, I DID enjoy the quiet after a while. I just have to remember that on Monday morning as I put him on the bus again.