Aliyah Started Kindergarten!

 Aliyah started kindergarten on Monday, August 13, 2012. She was only excited, never expressing any worry or nervousness. We had been to the school a few times, and had visited her new teachers in their classrooms at the orientation night, so I am sure that helped her feel confident about her first day. 

On the first day, I drove her to school. Traffic was crazy and we had to park about a 10 minute walk away. I think it was 100* at 7:45am that day--it was a long, hot walk. I walked her to her classroom and helped her put her backpack away, find her cubby and her seat, and then said goodbye. I had been looking foward to Aliyah's first day of school for a long time so I wasn't sure if I was going to be sad like I heard every other mom say they were. And I didn't feel sad at all...until I started walking away. I couldn't help but have a few tears come to my eyes. My little girl is growing up and at  a big school! 

We planned on her riding the bus to and from school on regular basis, but I wanted to drive her there myself the first week. However, I figured that it was best for her to learn the after school bus routine from the start, rather than make her change a few days into it, so she rode bus home on the first day.  She started riding the bus to school on the first Friday of school. I was a bit nervous about the whole thing, even though he teachers walk the kindergarteners to and from the bus to the kindergarten area at school everyday. But she has LOVED riding the bus. 

She is going to kindergarten all-day. (The school does a standard half-day kindergarten schedule, but we can pay for the optional second half. We thought that the full-day option was best for Aliyah and her super-social and busy personality.) She has her main kindergarten class in the morning, then goes to lunch and recess, then has her "enrichment" class in the afternoon.  I have asked her if she'd rather just go in the morning and come home, but she says she loves having lunch at school and going all day. And for the first time in years, she comes home and doesn't ask for a play date everyday!

First Day!

 Second Day!