Back To School 2012

Shae was the first to leave, bright and early Tuesday morning.  She's headed off for her last year of Junior High - this was her first day of Grade Nine.

Maira was the next one to leave.  This was her first day of Kindergarten and she was very nervous.  Terrified, actually.  Can you tell?

We tried to get her to smile for the camera but it wasn't easy.

I took her to her bus stop and by the time I waved good-bye to her sad little face looking at me through the bus window, we were both in tears.

Connor was next (crazy woman that I am, I've got all four kids in different schools this year).  Connor walks to the school down the road so he doesn't have to leave until five minutes before the bell rings.

He wasn't super excited to start school but after his first day, he told me he had a GREAT day (which I believe is the first time he's ever told me that after a day at school).

Here he is, settling in at his new desk.

At lunch time, Jess, Hudson and I went to wait for Maira at the bus stop.  Hudson definitely missed having Maira around, they really are best friends.

The bus was late so we had quite a wait...

Finally, the bus arrived and Hudson ran right up to Maira:

And thankfully, Maira was all smiles - she LOVED her first day of school.  In fact, by the end of the week, she told me she was sad that they had to have weekends because she wished she could go to school every day.

At home, we sat down and she told me all about her very first day of Kindergarten.

Finally, a week later, it was Hudson's turn for his first day at Playschool.  After two years of having to drag him kicking and screaming OUT of the playschool after dropping Maira off, he was thrilled that it was finally his turn to stay and play with all the fun toys.

During his first unparented day at school, it was a strange feeling to be child-free.  I decided to go and run some errands and while it was definitely much faster to go on my own, I actually kind of missed having my little shopping buddy with me, chattering to me while I shop.  Definitely a bittersweet experience.