Brynn's First Day of First Grade!

Brynn started her first day of school on August 6, 2008. On Friday, August 1 at 5:00 p.m., they posted the class lists for the 2008-2009 school year. We had a full day of swimming that day and everyone fell asleep that afternoon, so as soon as Joseph arrived home from work at 6:00 we headed over to see who her teacher would be and which kindergarten friends would be in her class. We went through all 8 first grade lists and I didn't see Brynn's name on any of them. I went through the list again and at last found it, somehow I completely missed it the first time. She was placed in a class with two of her best friends from kindergarten and a few other friends from other classes.

There are only two LDS kids in the first grade of 160+ students at Brynn's school, Brynn and a little boy from our ward. I was thrilled to see his name on the list of Brynn's class! What are the chances? With only 2 out of160+ students, we felt lucky! His mom is one of my friends and Abby has a weekly playdate with his younger twin sisters. We left very happy with the results of the posting.

Joseph pointed out that, not only is she no longer the only Mormon in her class, she is no longer the only caucasian as well. It's funny, that was such a major concern for us last year, but this year, we weren't really worried about it.

The night before school started Joseph gave the girls both a father's blessing and we put everyone to bed. I had tried hard all week to not get too sentimental with Brynn, even though I was REALLY sad to have school starting again. We've had a fun summer and I've loved being surrounded by ALL of my children ALL day everyday. I wish I could give them a vitamin with all the knowledge they need and keep them home to play and have fun all day. Anyway, I slipped a couple of times during the week and told Brynn that I was going to miss her when she went back to school. That night before school started, after we had put them to bed, Abby quietly came into me and said, "Mom, when you tell Brynn you are going to miss her when she starts school, I've noticed that your eyes get wet.....well Brynn is in her bed crying because she is sad that she has to be gone from you all day." Oh great, I thought! I went and crawled into bed with Brynn and held her as she cried and tried to lighten things up a bit. This is how our conversation went.

Me: Brynn what's wrong?

Brynn: (in between sobs) I'm just so sad that I have to be gone from you all day.

Me: Well, you'll be gone for 6 hours and then you get to be home for 18 hours. Which is longer 6 or 18?

Brynn: 18, but 6 is still a really long time.

Me: It does seem long, doesn't it....but don't you get sick of me sometimes?!

Brynn: (with a little giggle now) Yes!

Me: Well just think, you'll get to go to school and learn new things and play with your friends and then when the time comes I'll come and wait outside your classroom with Aaron and Abby and I'll give you a big hug and we'll be so excited to see each other again! You'll get to have lots of fun with friends and your new teacher while we're at home cleaning and doing other chores and errands, that doesn't sound very fun does it?

Abby, listening, interjects at this point: Ah! Man! Why do we have to clean, I hate doing work! That's not fair!

(I realize I've created more of a problem so I change the subject.)

Me: Brynn, you can cry whenever you feel like it and you can come talk to me about what you're feeling. When I was in first grade I cried about everything! I cried because I had to sit by a boy at lunch!

Brynn: (giggling) You did?

Me: Yes! I had to sit by my 4th grade brother at lunch everyday for the first few weeks of school because I cried so much about sitting next to that boy in my class! But then things got better and I was okay! It's okay to feel nervous and you can cry whenever you want....and whenever you are at school and you start to miss me, take the palm of your hand that I've kissed and hold it up to your cheek for a minute and think, "My Mom loves me!"

Brynn: Okay....

The entire time this conversation was going on, Aaron was at the bottom of the bunk bed screaming and crying hysterically for my attention. So once the mood was lightened and I could tell she was okay I headed down the ladder to rescue him. As much as it hurts to have her feel like she wants to be with me so much, I am grateful to feel needed. Someday, she'll probably walk into the classroom without looking back or flat out tell me that she doesn't need me there....I think both will be marked as tender and bittersweet moments of motherhood.
We all piled in the car and took her to school as a family. 8:15 seemed early for us all after the lazy days of summer!

Brynn is in room E-4 with Mrs. Ziser, a new teacher to Tafoya Elementary. Brynn adores her! For the first few days, she came home saying, "My teacher is sooooo nice and she's really pretty!" She does seem very nice and with it. I think it's a great match for our Brynn, exactly what she needs. Brynn is full of spunk and fun, but is also very tender and has a very serious side. We're pleased with the way things have turned out.


Brynn was thrilled to see that her good friend from kindergarten was in her class with her!When I picked Brynn up, she was all smiles, but mentioned she was very HOT from having 3 recesses! That was a part of first grade she didn't expect! :) She told me that whenever she started to think that she was missing me, she put her hand to her cheek and thought, "Mom loves me."

We headed home to enjoy the oatmeal chocolate chip cookies that Abby and I had made to pass the time while Brynn was away. (She misses Brynn more than anyone!) I asked every question I could think of and tried to pick her brain of every little detail. Minutes later, Grandma Rowene called for a FULL report of her first day. Brynn told her all of the exciting details and it was fun for me to hear it all again! We're looking forward to another great year of school!