1 down...179 to go...

Summer's officially over.  Last night, I set my alarm clock before shutting my eyes and drifting off to sleep.  The only problem?  I'm a little out of practice in the alarm-setting department and I didn't pay attention to the little light in the corner that said I was setting the alarm for PM!  Oops.  No problem, God's in control.  He woke me up at 6:12.  Plenty of time to get a head-start on the morning's activities before the kiddos woke-up.

Sure enough, of all days, Zoe chose THIS MORNING to sleep until 7:30.  Good thing the outfits were laid out the night before.

Got to school with a few minutes to spare.  When the bell rang, Zoe was off like a bullet.  Totally didn't even give me a hug.  Gone.  Off to 2nd grade.  Not even a "See ya, Mom!"

I suppose Ty's drop off could have gone worse.  For awhile there, I really thought he was going to miss out on the first day of school.  I thought, for sure, he was going to be getting in the car and coming home with me, rather than sitting with his buddies in Mrs. Johnston's class.  But alas...he made it into the classroom and all was right in the Kindergarten world.

(For those curious about the bears: the kindergartners were all asked to bring their favorite bear to school each day the first week.  The teacher had all sorts of "Bear Activities" planned and I think it was also supposed to bring them comfort and security.  Maybe Ty would've done better with his Nintendo DS or his baseball mit...especially considering we had to come up with a name for his bear the night before the first day!)

Let's backup a little...Ty was very hyper during breakfast (Zoe too).  He calmed down a little when he got in the car.  On the ride to school...he grew increasingly more quiet.  Before he got out of the car, he said, "my belly feels funny!"  Oh boy.  Still, we were good.  When the bell rang, all blood flow was cut off in my hand by his death-grip.  But...he was at least walking toward his "line".  Once he was in that line, Ty realized he hadn't said goodbye or given a hug to Daddy.  I turned around...thinking Shane was right behind me...and discovered I was wrong.  "I'll go find him, Ty."  As soon as I said it, I knew Ty hadn't heard me.  But before I could repeat myself, a mother had stepped between Ty and I and now he couldn't see me either...or hear me...and the panic set in: No Mom...No Dad...immediate tears!  Even though I got to him within 30 seconds, the dam (yes, Corey, I fixed the spelling...thanks for pointing out my accidental potty mouth) had broken and there was no going back.

I tried calming him and joking with him.  Others tried too.  But he wasn't about to walk into that school without me.  So...I joined the line of kindergartners (21 of them, to be exact) and marched into the building with Ty.  As a side note: the girls in the class needed me to boost their numbers.  There couldn't have been more than 5 of them amongst all those boys!  Yikes, Mrs. Johnston is going to need some SERIOUS prayer this year!  When we got to the class, the aide took Ty's hand...he gave me one last hug and then was swept off to Kindergarten land...content...and tear-free.

Exactly 3 1/2 hours later, I was waiting there to bring my big boy home.  We survived.  Now we just have to do that 179 more times.  Hopefully, the process will get a little easier.

I'm still not sure Zoe even knows that I got out of the car this morning.