First Day the the New School

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

Two days after arriving in our new state, it was finally time for the girls to jump into their new school. We were all so nervous - except Angela. (o: Vern* didn't have to start work until the next day, so we got to all head over to the new school together. We got up extra early so we could arrive at the school in plenty of time. When we got there it was a ghost town. We thought we had arrived 15 minutes early at 7:45. Luckily, the doors were open and the principal was there. She apologized that we must have gotten an old flyer with the school time in our school packet. The school time had changed two weeks into the year due to traffic issues - the junior high and high school just down the road all started so close to the same time that traffic was a mess, so they made the elementary school time a half hour later. Whoopee! And extra half hour to sleep in! (o:

It turned out great getting there so early, we got to talk with the principal for several minutes, ask her a few questions and she let us wander around to explore the school. She found out our teacher's names and made us feel welcome. We took Miss Nat to her teacher first. She was so cute and sweet with Natalie. I was so surprised how well Natalie did. I expected her to hang on my waist like she still did some mornings when I dropped her off at her old school. I think she was excited to finally get started, the whole month of September was just weird for the girls knowing they were leaving.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

Sarah put on a brave face. She had so many friends and felt so at home in her old school, this was a scary day for her. Vern* and I were so nervous for her and knew it would take some time to feel at home again. As we walked into the class of curious 4th graders all staring, I could see the look in Sarah's eyes and I tried to just be matter of fact and said goodbye to my little sweetie. I wanted to linger and watch to make sure she would be okay, but that's not a cool thing when you're in 4th grade having a hovering mom. I also think we both would have broke down in tears within seconds, so Vern* and I made our exit and didn't look back. I prayed and prayed all day for things to go well. That's all I could do.

From Blog Favorites Sept.Oct.

Angela was the most excited to get to school and jump right in. Her teacher was so surprised to see her wave happily goodbye and head to the chair at the table she had ready for her. Angela was born ready for Kindergarten and like the other girls, knew her short time at the old school was not permanent. She was ready to really settle in. She was actually disappointed that she didn't get to stay as long as her sisters when we picked her up before lunch.

That day was a long one - Vern* and I ran a couple errands and then killed time watching TV at his parents house. We were excited when it was time to get Angela and took her to In and Out Burger to hear all about her first day. She was excited and told us about her stations, reading and who she sat by.

It was a relief to finally see Sarah and Natalie. They both had smiles on their faces! Phew! Natalie did great and had some nice girls in her class that immediately made her feel welcome. Both girls had someone to sit by at lunch and someone to play with at recess - the two times of day that can feel most lonesome when you are new.

I was so grateful when Sarah told us that right after we left her teacher had her come up and talked with her class. "Have any of you ever been new to a school before?" Some kids raised their hands. "It's a scary thing to be brand new isn't it? I want you to be extra nice to Sarah and help her feel welcome today." Then she asked a couple of the girls to make sure they stayed with Sarah and helped her for the day. What an awesome teacher.

This was a HUGE day to get over with. The anticipation had been building up ever since I knew we were really going - the new school thing was a big deal. And now we were ready to move on with life and get settled. A huge weight was off our shoulders.