Beginner's Day

Yesterday I took Henry to Beginner's Day at JV Washam Elementary School.... where he will attend Kindergarten this fall.  He was SO excited!  More excited than I thought he would be - normally whenever we talk about Kindergarten, he talks about Ms. Clara & how much he's going to miss her and I've assumed that he was scared to death of leaving School 4!!

They gave each child a name tag with a colored circle on it.  Then, each of the EIGHT kindergarten teachers were holding a balloon of the same color.  After the principal had said a few words, the kids were to go to the teacher with the balloon that was the same color as the one on their tag.  Most mothers walked their child to the teacher.  When the time came, Henry let go of my hand, said bye and walked off without me.  I watched him walk all the way to the other end of the gym and find the right teacher.... he never looked back... and it was all I could do to keep from bursting into tears.  I can not describe at all how I felt - if you're a mother who has ever watched her child walk away from you, towards the unexpected, then I'm sure you know.  

Henry actually got to spend some time in one of the kindergarten classes - for about 45 minutes, while I heard a presentation about the PTO, after school care & the JV Washam Mision Statement!!  He didn't say very much when he got back - just that they read a book.  He didn't seem as excited as he had been either, although I suspect that it was a lot to take in and he is just taking some time to digest it all.  It was a great day for me though because the school looked great, the staff seemed very nice and I learned a lot about what to expect over the next few months as we prepare for this next step.

Later that afternoon I took both kids to Chuck E. Cheese's.  I do not recommend taking your children there.  I do not recommend taking your enemy there either!!  I was NOT a fan... but they seemed to have a really good time, so I guess that is all that matters!!