Last weekend, Isabella reminded me that she hadn't gotten a pedicure over the summer, something she's wanted to do for the past year. I told her over the summer that we would go at some point, unsure of what she thought it was all about. Nothing that we couldn't do at home... But she knew we couldn't do it at home. And here's why: She wanted a tiny flower painted on her big toe just like her little friend in kindergarten had done. She knew that wasn't happening here. So on Saturday after we signed up for ballet, I surprised her with a little trip to the nail salon. Then mom and I tried not to pass out from the awful fumes and sat through her very thorough pedicure. She sat in a chair just her size, refused to turn on the back massager and said nothing, just smiled, the whole time. Then later when we talked about the whole "you need to respond when people ask you something" deal, she simply stated that the nail lady had a very strong accent and she had no idea what she was saying. True, true.
She was excited about first grade, but hesitant. She still asked a few times over the summer if she could just stay home instead of going back. But once we had her teacher figured out and definitely after Open House, I saw a little pep peeking through and I was feeling better. She was feeling better. We had some troubleshooting where we re-visited things that didn't go well last year and made adjustments accordingly. And then this morning went remarkably well. The drive to school was seamless and happy and as I opened her door, she looked around at all the cars and said "Um, mom? I'm not so sure I want to do this now." But I reminded her that yes, we were doing this and it was going to be great.
I took her into school, walked her to her class and she was still squeezing tight to my hand. We walked into her room, found her cubby, said 'hi' to her teacher and although a little hesitant, she went to her desk. She was excited to have a 'real' desk this year. One with a spot to keep things inside. She was excited about it seeming like "a big kid" class. Then I gave her a hug, a kiss, and reminded her that I'd see her in the cafeteria after school. And then an amazing thing happened. I walked out. That was it. A far cry from both of our first days last year. The relief was palpable.
When I picked her up she was tired, as expected, and quiet. Once she got home and lay down for a bit, and sucked her thumb to her hearts content (stress relief that she avoids at school), she continued to tell us all about her day.
I think she's going to love first grade.
Declan and Quinn will start to recognize the missing piece as the week goes on. They'll start to ask when she'll be home and they will miss her. One of their favorite parts of the day is picking her up. They love waiting in the cafeteria, they love seeing their cousins and Isabella's friends coming in and really, I think they love that we feel complete again.
We were pretty close to sneaking out the door this morning before the little two woke up. It would have been ideal because they also really love to take Isabella to school. I knew I'd be walking her in though, so my plan was to sneak out while Ryan stayed back with them. Last year we tried to make a family deal out of it and it became all a little much when they wanted to be held as we were trying to break the superglue that held Isabella to our legs and it was just way too upsetting for everyone. So just as we were ready to leave, Quinn came flying down the stairs, crying as if she knew our exact plan and as I came around the corner to pick her up, Declan was perched at the top of the stairs where he was quickly trying to dress himself while his shirt was inside out, tangled up, and backwards wrapped around his neck. Needless to say, daddy had to do some calming at home as we headed off to school.
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