Jake's First Day at Kindergarten

Jake's first day of school went really well and he did soo good.
The parents on the other hand, were a different story :).

Jake woke up at 6am filled with excitement!
He was up and about and could hardly contain himself.
This is even with a late night's sleep the night before, which we think was due to anxiety building up.

The prep started the night before, with Jake specifically requesting to wear his button down blue shirt to school. He also asked for peanut butter sandwich for snack. The shirt was pressed, the lunchbox was readied. Then I went through his backpack to make sure he's 'only' bringing school stuff. True enough, when I went through each pocket to check what he had put in there, I saw his iPod in one of the pockets clearly labeled with the iPod image. Go figure :).

We got to the school early enough to walk around a little bit before meeting Mrs. G, and since we were way early, we walked over to the playground so he can play for a little bit. He was amused that he was in bigger playground, much bigger than what he was used to at his old school. Plus the fact that he was there with BIGGER, Older kids. He held up his own though, my little boy.

We then walked back to the kindergarten building to wait for Room 8's door to open up. Mrs. G opened the door, and welcomed both children and parents to walk in the room to get the kids situated. We walked over to the Welcome Wall where each kid searched for their picture and placed it on the felt board to let Mrs. G know that they were present, and we then headed over to the cubbies where they would put their backpacks and lunch boxes. Then we looked for his table, and his chair and he got seated and waited for everyone else to do the same. There are abount 20 kids in his room and he seems to be the only Filipino in the class.

Mrs. G read a poem to the parents before letting us go, which brought tears to my eyes and made my throat tight and I was ready to cry. I looked around and saw that I was the only one getting all emotional, so I held it together :).

The First Day
I gave you a little wink and smile
As you entered my room today.
For I know how hard it is to leave
And know your child must stay.
You've been with him for five years now
And have been a loving guide,
But now, alas, the time has come
To leave him at my side.
Just know that as you drive away
And tears down your cheeks may flow
I'll love him as I would my own
And help him learn and grow.
For as a parent, I too know
How quickly the years do pass
And that one day soon it will be my turn
To take my child to class.
So please put your mind at ease
And cry those tears no more
For I will love him and take him in
When you leave him at my door.
-- by Jamie Solley

The parents were eventually dismissed and on our way to the car, I was on the phone with my sister and she was reassuring me that everything was going to be fine. Before dropping him off at work, the husband and I stopped by to have coffee when all hell broke lose and I cried and cried like a crazy bitch.

I seriously don't know what was harder:
- The fact that he is now in Kindergarten or
- The fact that he didn't even cry out for me or Daddy to not leave him.

So yes, after all of the psycho-ing myself up (YES, PSYCHO-ing)...
We survived Kindergarten - all 3 of us with flying colors.
Now, I ask, is it going to feel this way come First Grade too?