Big Girl School

Well, I knew it was coming all summer but somehow the first day of school still caught me by surprise. Cat started Pre-K at the local elementary school yesterday and loved it! She'd been nervous for the last week or so, telling me that she didn't want to go to school, but after open house Wednesday night, she was so excited that she was singing and doing somersaults on her bed for an hour, after bedtime. She also woke up at 6:30 in the morning, graciously went back to sleep for 20 minutes, then was wide awake, dressed, and wearing her backpack before I knew it. I said, "would you like to put your backpack in the car, or in the kitchen, or wear it for the next 30 minutes until it's time to leave?" She said, "wear it for the next 30 minutes." And she did. She'll get breakfast every day at school (for free, gotta love it!) but she was up so early that I thought she might need a little snack before we even left. Me being a sentimental Mom, I brought my camera to the school. She did NOT want me to take pictures, but agreed to take ONE. Notice that she was up so early, her hair was already messed up by the time we got to school. Maybe ponytails are not the way to go? Also, she is wearing a regular ordinary play outfit. This was her choice. I suggested that she wear a cute little dress for the first day, but she was too practical for that. "It will probably get dirty. There was lots of sand on the playground." I walked Cat to her classroom to sign her in and she was right at home. She put her backpack away in her cubby and sat down on her name spot on the rug. When I left, I tried to make eye contact to wave good-bye and she wouldn't look at me! She had a great time at school, but she wasn't very talkative. I did find out that she has a "big big class! Like a MILL-EE-ON!" (I'm sure 20 felt like a million after the 6 or 7 kids in her class last year.) And she told me all of the kids she saw at school whom she already knew from church or her preschool of the last two years. All of this over a yummy bowl of fruit snack sharks floating in a sea of jello, of course, since her school mascot is the Sharks. Can't believe she's all grown up!