Hello 1st Grade, My Name Is Ashlyn

Well that was a completely corny title.  

Anyhoo, Ashlyn started 1st grade today.  It was terribly sad. She looked so grown up and confident and beautiful.  And it was a whole heck of a lot harder than I had imagined, but we'll get to that later.  First lets talk about the prep.  Getting her prepped for 1st grade was the fun part.  Last Thursday we went school shopping, just me and my girl.  It was so much fun and Ashlyn was so cute in picking out all her clothes.  She even picked out a special dress to wear on her first day.  After shopping ourselves silly, I took her to The Chocolate and we indulged.  I love it when I get the chance to spend one-on-one time with my kids.  It was a great afternoon.

Then on Monday, after she went to an orientation for Chinese immersion program, I took her to get her very first professional hair cut.  I've given her all her previous cuts at home and I figured it was a perfect time for her to experience a real salon cut.

Monday night we went to back-to-school night and had a special family home evening.  We told Ashlyn (and Trent since he will be starting preschool next week) the three things expect of them when they are away at school: #1 - Listen to your teacher, #2 - stay on task, and #3 - be kind to others.  And then Brian gave both Ashlyn and Trent a fathers blessing.  A few weeks ago at our Stake Conference a lady spoke about "remembering who we are" and that we were each born to be a queen/king in our Heavenly Father's kingdom.  We ended our FHE talking about that and telling them that they need to act accordingly whenever they are away from home.  We then made some paper crowns which they wore while we ate our treats.  Unfortunately, Luke started saying over and over, "I a pincess!"

Tuesday/yesterday we went to yet another orientation and had a special back-to-school dinner with all of Ashlyn's favorite things - manicotti, sourdough bread, salad, and fresh peach jello with marshmallow pops for dessert.  Then we did all the final prep - we got her clothes set out, I made a new bow for her hair, we painted her nails, and read books about going to school.  We were set, but I think the nerves started setting in a little, for the both of us.  She had a hard time falling asleep and I had a dream last night that she was late to school and I was in hysterics.  I thought the days of those types of dreams for me were over!

This morning we were up earlier than we have been in a long, long time.  Ashlyn got showered, dressed, and her hair all done up.  Brian fixed her a special breakfast of eggs, bacon, cinnamon toast, and peaches.  After snapping a few photos it was finally time - the big moment was here!

It was when we were on our way to the school that I realized we had forgotten one crucial thing...she didn't brush her teeth on her first day of school!  AARGH!  Oh well, she still looked stunning.

It was at this point, when Brian was walking away with her to find her line and the chaos of the morning had settled, that I started getting choked up.  My baby girl was walking away and was going to be gone from my care for nearly seven hours.  NO!  I wanted no part of this.  I wanted to turn back time.  The idea of home school suddenly became rather appealing.  I hurried and put on my sunglasses so nobody would notice the tears welling up in my eyes.

The bell rang and she walked in line, following the girl in front of her and carrying her lunch bag with the special note and treat I had put inside.  She walked  right past me, all smiles and ready for her new adventure.  And the tears started coming fast.

One last wave goodbye and I knew my life was changing from this moment forward.  We will no longer have our lazy, carefree mornings of snuggling up on the couch to watch morning cartoons.  Kindergarten wasn't so bad because it was just a few hours in the afternoon.  Completely doable.  But this?  This stinks!

And then our eye contact was broken, and the tears were falling so freely at this point that I had no idea whether or not the pictures were focusing...they were not.

She was gone from my care from 8:25-3:05.  Almost seven whole hours.  It was horrible. When I went to pick her up, she ran up to me and wrapped her arms around my neck and we hugged for a good 15 seconds.  It was heaven.  She had a fantastic day!  She made a new friend, Ruby, learned some Chinese, and can't wait to go back again tomorrow.  I will adjust.  I have no choice.  Life goes on.  And as my Dad reminded me, before I know it she will be off to college.