it's official.
as of this week, i have a kindergartener.
i only cried one time on tuesday. (ok, one-and-a-half times.)
elle is the only blond-haired, blue-eyed little girl in the whole school. it's amazing to see such a diverse group of kids gather, but terrifying all at the same time. her school has it's fare share of challenges- that's apparent- but we're sure this is what's best for her for now. i'm excited to watch her grow and learn and develop. i'm scared i haven't taught her enough. i'm petrified she'll be walked all over. or bullied. or teased. mike says it's part of life, and i say not kind things for even suggesting such a thing. she came out of her room wednesday night and said, "mom, remember how you said sometimes people say mean things to other people? a boy in my class called me 'chickenhead' today. that hurt my feelings." i told her to roll her eyes and cluck at him if he does it again. what does that even mean? ugh, boys.
have i mentioned she is in all-day kindergarten? and it is a chinese immersion program? i do like that chinese part. (plus, the most logical thing to do after her first day was to go get chinese food. brilliant idea if i do say so myself.)
(^^ perhaps one of my favorite pictures of all time right there.)
elle has always been one of the most tender little souls. each night she prays for each of us individually- usually about something different and relevant- last night it was, "please help jude to keep communicating and not get frustrated. please help daddy to keep his eyes close during the prayers. please help mommy to be a great mom at work. and please help me to just be a sweetheart." all the elements change, except her part. she always prays to be a sweetheart.
she truly is so good. all the way from her nose to her toes she is incredible.
bless her for being used to my camera shenanigans, and being a total sport while i hid behind my camera and tried not to cry. the camera was a good distraction. and i figure she'll be embarrassed by us next year, so i stocked up on pictures.
and that was that. mike took it all a bit harder than even i did, but i don't blame him.
the day itself was one for the record books- in addition to the emotion of the first day, mike also took the train to virginia in hopes (yes, hopes) of getting a root canal. not only did it not happen, but they also told him hours later that they weren't on our insurance. nor was our dentist we've been going to. after days of excruciating pain, he had to endure more (it's the end of the week and we're still struggling to get the problem solved). dentists here are about as stellar as the drivers.
which says a lot.
my work day was the craziest i've had since starting here, and for most of it i was shoving cookies at jude to keep him quiet while i tried to work from home (since mike was gone).
i had about 3 panic attacks from various sources, all the while i'd pause and scream, "where's elle!?"
oh yah.
my baby is in kindergarten!!!
