Monday night I could not sleep.  It was nothing new really; when I wake up, whether to go to the bathroom or I hear a noise, I often awake in pain, and then I need to take something for the pain to go away as it is too much for me just to dose right off again.  Monday night was the eve of Tyler’s first, first day, his first day of kindergarten!  I read for two hours and then decided that I had to try to get back to sleep, even though I didn’t feel tired.

Instead I just laid there, thoughts of the first day of kindergarten swirling in my head.  All of my school-readiness strategies had been cast to the wind on Monday night as I had felt way too sick to lay out Tyler’s clothes, pack Tyler’s snack, and take a shower.  I had to set my alarm for seven a.m. instead of the more comfortable 7:30.  I lay there so freaked out!  I took a sedative, it was now nearly six a.m.

When the alarm woke me, I think the adrenaline kicked in.  I was feeling pretty good for someone who had been up in the middle of the night for three hours.  Was I the only one who ironed my son’s first day of school outfit???  As we got ready to leave Grant said, “Now I won’t have you looking like a fool, taking pictures of Tyler.  If no one else is taking pictures, you aren’t either.”  I didn’t bother arguing I just said, “Believe me, there will be other people taking pictures.”

Of course it had to be pouring rain for the first day of school!  We are under a flood watch and New Jersey had the most damage out of any state from Hurricane Irene, I believe.   It is supposed to rain for at least the next five days!  About two dozen kids and parents were at the bus stop with umbrellas.

"I'm going to be doing what now?"

Yep, I sure as heck wasn’t alone in the taking of pictures, with some moms even making other kids wait so they could get that “standing by the school bus shot” or the “on the school bus stairs shot”.  Believe me, I restrained myself!

The condemned little man

After we put Tyler on the bus, Grant and I drove to the school because he had too much “stuff” for him to carry in his back pack.  First day of school stuff like a change of clothes, glue sticks, notebooks, all of the stuff that would stay in school with him.  Tyler’s bus actually beat us there because we had to stop for gas.

When we got to his class, there were a little over 20 kids sitting in a very large circle. “Mrs. Q.” (not even her real last name initial, who I had formerly termed “Mrs. Drillsergeant“) has turned out to be a very nice teacher.  We met on Friday for a conference between her and the three of us.  I had the feeling she was either going to be a really horrible teacher or a really great one and I am happy to report that she falls into the latter category!  She really seems committed to keeping Tyler in her class despite his diagnoses of Tourette’s Syndrome, OCD, and Anxiety!

Anyway, she was asking the kids for their notebooks, changes of clothes, checking to see who wanted lunch (Tyler’s is completely free due to our financial situation), and making a fun game out of it.  Tyler smiled and waved when he saw us there and probably breathed a sigh of relief, as we had all or most of that stuff with us…and Tyler had NO CLUE what was in his back pack anyway, except for Eeyore.

Tyler was doing pretty well, he seemed to be calm and comfortable.  One of the little girls was crying and shaking, I felt so badly for her!  I don’t know if her parents were there or not, not everyone has the great “flexibility” of not working to be able to be in the kindergarten classroom after 9 a.m.  Being in daycare since he was seven and a half months old, Tyler is a veteran, thankfully.

And then it was time to go.  Mrs. Q told the kids to stay in the circle and to blow kisses to mom and dad and we would blow them back.

In a parallel universe, five years ago I had my bag for the hospital all packed on September 6th as my due date was September 9th.  And now, here we are, the three of us.  Tyler starting his education, and Tyler, Grant and I all set to celebrate his imminent 5th birthday.