First Day of Kindergarten!

Well, today was the big day. Mazy's first official day of kindergarten at the Downtown School. He ate a good breakfast and then he and I drove downtown to park in a city parking ramp. We then walked about a block to his school, entered with many other families and winded our way through the hallways to his classroom.

And that's when I started to cry.

Don't worry, I didn't let him see me crying. I said, "OK, have a great day, buddy. Why don't you go play with that boy, his name tag says Cooper." Then I kind of pushed him in Cooper's direction and hurried from the room.

I have long ago accepted the fact that I will cry at every major accomplishment, milestone and exciting event in my children's lives. It's just who I am.

I picked Mazy up after work. He and the other after-school kids were walking back from the playground, which is about a block and a half from school. One thing is certain, Mazy will become an expert city street crosser after this school year. He must cross one of the biggest streets in Iowa to get to the playground! Yes, it worries me, but I have faith that he will follow the rules and the providers will pay attention.

Mazy reports that he had a good day. He learned about the letter "i" and how it is also a word. Of course, he tells me, he already knew this. And will he be learning something new in school or is it going to be easy? I assured him he'd be challenged soon.

He also reports that he has not made any friends yet, but he will try again tomorrow. And that he would like to start taking his lunches to school. They had the choice of hotdogs or cheese pizza today and he does not think that is a very healthy choice. I have to agree with him but will assume it was a treat for the first day of school. (I just gave the school a $50 check for lunches and he's using that up before we start packing him one!)

Today was also my nephew Hudson's first day of preschool and my niece Theron's first day of kindergarten down in Overland Park, Kansas. Hudson rode the bus, Theron carpools. I think I'll have Mazy call Theron so they can discuss their first days.