Kindergarten Chronicles: "The first day"

 So it happened... the first day of Kindergarten came and went just like that...
It was emotionally very difficulty for me....but as usual, my kids surprised me with their great behavior and overall positive attitude...
This is how the day went...
I barely slept last night from all the anxiety so I woke up promptly at 6:30am (unusually early for our house, but it will become the "new normal")... I washed my face and said to myself "today is the day"...Got dressed and went straight to the girls' room.. they were still sleeping soundly so I took advantage of the peace for a few minutes and stood near them to hear them breathe...they looked so angelic so it took me a few minutes to disturb their sleep...
I decided to wake Olivia first.. I laid next to her and whispered in her ear "baby, get up.. it's your first day of Kindergarten".. Her eyes opened immediately and her whole face lit up.. she said to me "mommy, remember I want piggy tails".. and then she smiled... She got dressed right away and I helped her do her hair.. piggy tails.. just like she wanted!
Quickly after we woke Gaby and got her ready as well..then we had a small breakfast and off we were...

The girls posed for a quick picture right before we left.  They looked so cute in their plaid dresses and they couldn't contain their excitement.. Especially Olivia, who is the kindergartener.. 

 I also took this picture of Olivia holding a frame that says "My 1st day of Kindergarten!!!", which I plan to make a tradition.. I think it'll be super cute to make an album with all these pictures and then give it to her on her senior year.. I know we're ages away from that, but I like to think ahead! ;)

A friend of mine also suggested I should take a picture of her on the last day of school holding this picture.. that would be cute too!

 ...and of course even though Gaby isn't starting Kindergarten, I HAD to take a picture of her holding her personalized sign as well.. "My 1st day of Pre-K3"

How cute is she??

 We got to the school around 7:30am and there were tons of people running around, the vibe was good.. very positive overall.. Because it was the first day we were allowed to walk the kids to their classrooms.. They are normally dropped off via "car line" but today was an exception...(thank God!)

We walked Gaby first and she went ballistic as soon as she realized we were leaving.. She cried, I cried.. that's all I remember.. I tried leaving her classroom as fast as I could as to not to drag the sad episode any longer...(*a few minutes later I peeked in her classroom and saw her playing with some toys.. that was a relief*)

Then it was Olivia's turn... my little kindergarten entered her classroom with a smile on her face... she kept looking around trying to find a familiar face and recognizing the new ones.. She smiled and said to me "Mommy, I'm so happy... I love this place!"... My eyes immediately filled with tears and she hugged me tight... There I was, standing in the middle of the classroom and this little person was consoling me, letting me know everything was going to be ok!

She sat at the table where she saw her name and said to me "take a picture, mommy!".. so I did and then hugged her and kissed her good bye.. She was unbelievably sweet and caring.. like she sensed how I was feeling..

She said.. "I'll see you later and will tell you all about it".. Other mothers were crying too so I didn't feel that silly... but it was such an emotional moment! Wow!

I thought about them all day long.. I kept wondering what they were doing, if they had eaten their lunch, if they had made any new friends, if their teachers had been nice to them, if they had any time to rest, if they missed me.. you name it, I thought of it!

2:30pm came around and I rushed out to get them.. I was so anxious to reunite with my two little ones.. 

As soon as I picked them up, they both ran to me and hugged me tight.. Olivia still had a huge smile on her face and Gaby was just really happy to see me...

I asked them what they did and they both said it went great. They seem to be really happy with their new school and Olivia was particularly proud of herself.  She told me a few stories and mentioned a few names of the kids she met today...

I felt a sense of accomplishment and my mind was at ease right away... I know it may sound like I'm making such a huge deal out of all this, but I think most mothers would understand...

I feel good for having survived "The First Day" and I am confident things will only get better and better each day!

I hope it goes as well tomorrow! We'll see!

Happy back to school day, kids!