Hope's first day of school

Hope has been excited to start school for over a year now. For the last few weeks she’s been counting down the days until the big day – today – the first day of school. I remember years ago when she was still a baby thinking how nice it would be when she started school so that we’d get a break during the day. But today the furthest thing from our minds was this “break” we envisioned years ago. We’ve been told by so many friends and family how hard the first day of school would be to finally let her begin school, just one more step to her growing up – which seems to be happening so fast!

I must admit the morning was filled with mixed emotions. Hope claimed she was excited, but a little bit nervous. It’s quite understandable, especially since she’s never been in daycare or preschool. As exciting as it was to finally take her to school for the first time, it certainly was a challenge to step away when it was time for her to become a big girl and attend kindergarten. The first hour after dropping her off at school we seemed to reflect quite a bit on how much she’s grown over the last few years and how excited she’s become about finally going to school. With Hope starting school today – I can’t help but recall this saying, “All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten.” In just one day we can tell this year is bound to be a year that she will learn so many valuable lessons, skills, and things that will certainly pave the way for her future.

After school was out she couldn’t help but talk most of the evening about everything she did in school. She was especially happy to tell us how she stayed “in the green”, meaning she was good in school. I thought it was especially cute to hear her say how she liked the lunch she brought but wanted to know if she could buy her lunch from the school “restaurant” tomorrow.

One thing’s for sure – Hope’s super excited about learning. Though I’m sure she’ll prove that in school, I’m absolutely amazed with how observant she has become. She seems to want to spell tons of new words every day and she’s doing great with beginning reading. We read two beginning reading books this evening and I was impressed that she was able to read them both once learning the new words. I have joked a time or two while out shopping about how I might just have the next spelling bee champion at the rate she’s going because she begins to spell words in public and asks tons of questions about spelling words every day.

Thankfully the day has come and gone filled with memorable moments – knowing many more memorable moments are to follow!