The First Day of School

*Mae. So proud of her new school duds.*

*John Russel. So mad at his new shoes.*

*Our School. Sahuarita Primary School.*

*Mae, hanging her back pack up.*

*John Russel. All lined up for First Grade.*

This morning you couldn't contain the excitement coming from our house. It was the first day of school. Mae and John Russel woke up extra early eager to start the day. Mae informed me several times that this was her first day of school. After serving breakfast, brushing teeth, and getting dressed we were ready to go. John Russel was having issues with his shoes. "But they feel all weird!" he whined. I guess he gets it honestly. I, too, had problems with my shoes as a child. (As I'm frequently reminded) So, with backpacks and lunchboxes we piled in the car. We left early in anticipation of school traffic. Boy did I underestimate the school traffic. We were stopped at a four way stop a good ways from the stop sign when John Russel asked me why we were stopping here. Finally we made it to school. As we pulled into the lot I should have known I wasn't going to find a space in the front lot due to all the cars parked on the side of the road. So, I turned around and made the way to the back lot. (John Russel informed me several times that we were going to be late.) We found a spot and headed to the playgrounds. As we were walking up I remembered that Mae was supposed to wear a little yellow paper bracelet her teacher gave us yesterday at open house. OH NO!!! I had forgotten. After digging through my bag I finally found it. Whew! We found Mae's teacher first. I was a little afraid she wouldn't remember what she looked like from yesterday so I was glad we saw her. It was time for her to line up. Then we hurried over to the first grade playground. Oh No! The classes were lining up already. I told John Russel it would be alright. We could just go to his class if we missed them. As we made our way around the building he spotted his teacher and made his way to his class line. Ok. everyone is in and safe. Will and I headed back to the car. There were so many people it took us forever to steer the stroller through the crowd. "Good," I thought to myself,"No tears. I'm doing better than I thought." Then as we made our way down the back sidewalk behind our school Will said, "Bye bye, John John! Bye, bye John John!" I replied back, " Bye, bye John John! Bye, bye Mae Mae!" Will then turned around in the stroller to get a better look and said, "Mae, Mae? Where'd she go?" And that's when I lost it.



I thought I was prepared, but Will's questions brought it all to a head. "It's just you and me, Buddy," I told him as I was putting him in his car seat. "You and me!" he replied.