Beginnings

Today was Eliot's first day of 1st grade.  It was also the first day that Peter would be in the "Giraffe" class at the YMCA.  He had previously been in the "Koala" class.  As far as I can tell, the greatest difference between the two classes (besides the ages of the children) is their level of security--the Giraffes are evidently now old enough to understand some of their boundaries.

The morning got off to a bit of a rocky start.  I had arranged to go in to work late so that I could drop them off and having me around in the morning threw Peter off his groove a bit.  He was very unhappy to find that we weren't going to spend the whole day eating pancakes and watching Toy Story 2.  Eventually I sent him off to the YMCA with my dad, per their usual routine, and was told later that he went happily to his new class.

Once they'd gone I was able to focus on Eliot a little more who, after all, was going through a greater transition today.  First grade is a big deal.

We snuggled and talked about what school would be like until it was time to go.  When we got to the school we lined up with the other children and parents and waited for the doors to open.  One of the school administrators was out taking pictures for the school year book and as she moved along towards us she called out for people to smile.  The girl standing behind us with her mother mutter, "Well I'm not going to smile."  So we weren't the only ones dealing with some first day jitters.  It turned out that the girl was a 3rd grader whose family had just moved into town.

When the doors finally opened we worked our way in and Eliot started to look interested.  The theme for the year has something to do with building, and all of the decorations had something to do with Lego, including two cubical balloons on either side of the front door.  So far, Eliot was impressed.

We knew where he classroom and locker were because we had attended an open house last week where we had met his new teacher, Mrs. Core.  We got his backpack put away, and got him settled at his desk, all while he held onto my hand as though he were dangling from it over a precipice.  Finally it was time for me to go.  He was distressed to see me go but soon settled in as some of his little friends from Kindergarten gathered in around him.

When I got home from work (later than usual, because I'd gone in late) I found both he and Peter smiling.  "School was great!" Eliot announced, and he can't wait for his second day of 1st grade tomorrow.