avery's first day of school

Avery started ECE (pre-k) at Teller Elementary today. The anticipation of him starting school has been pressing down on us for months, and now, we are here. This all seems so huge, so momentous, so amazing. He has officially started his school career. Memories are being made and I'm fairly convinced the years will start ticking off even faster now. During the lemonade social the previous week, I kept thinking that this whole school thing wasn't possible. How is it that I was about to let my son go? Playing in the school yard, eating lunch in the cafeteria, buying milk, finding his own way, making friends, figuring out his place in the social network that is elementary school had arrived at our front door. My feelings vacillated between "oh, I totally get why people home school, maybe I'll try it" to "I'm so excited for him, let's go!" 

The first day of school was just a few hours where the parents listened to the teachers talk about the upcoming year while the kids played on the playground. When it was over, I wasn't upset and thought, yup, we can do this! Not a tear was shed.

The second day was his first full day. We packed a lunch, made sure he had a back-up lovey for rest and $10 in his lunch account. The playground was buzzing with excitement. Avery was so happy. It's like he was made to go to school and I was just along for the ride, sharing in his joy. The teachers lined the kids up and marched them into the school. I waved and smiled as I watched this precious parade. Just before Avery went through the doors, he turned around and found me in the crowd (his face was easy to see as he is at least a head taller than most of his classmates). He had the biggest, purest smile on his face and then he waved good bye. A dagger in my heart. I could not get to the car fast enough to let the tears go and call Scott to share in the pain and joy that was watching our son walk in to an elementary school. I never knew it would be so hard watching my children grow.

Avery LOVES school. He doesn't understand weekends and is raring to go every morning. It is a perfect fit for him. I finally got the full run-down of a typical day almost a week later while snuggling with him late one night - much better than the 'nothing' I get right after school. They need a bit of time to process all those happenings. Most of the raw emotional response to my child going to school has subsided and has been replaced with his excitement and enthusiasm. He is totally in his element. I love seeing him this happy.

*Avery is wearing a tiger shirt in honor of the Teller Tigers.
*Nikki was also came to the first day of school.