I now officially have a first grader.  This morning we broke out the curling iron, had our breakfast of basted eggs, whole grain toast, and blueberries together, put on the much anticipated first-day-of-school clothes, packed the lunch box in the backpack, took some photos, and started a whole new chapter of life. Today marks the beginning of her full time educational career.  No more half days.  I’ve got 6 blissful hours in which to get more done from here on out.

I’ve been looking forward to this day for weeks.  Don’t get me wrong…It’s been a wonderful summer, but I function much better with routine. I’ve been ready to get us all back onto a schedule for a while now.  So, what am I doing with my new-found freedom? I started off strong, going for a run (that nearly killed me in the heat!) Then as I sat guzzling water and thinking about the rest of my day I realized something.  No one has asked me for a snack, or a drink, or if she can play at the neighbor’s house, or if the neighbors can play at our house.  No one has asked to change clothes 5 times in the last hour, or if we can have a dance party, or go to the splash pad, or if we can paint our fingernails and toenails (always while I’m in the middle of doing laundry or dishes!).  No one has asked what time it is a hundred times (to see if it’s time for a snack!) I haven’t had to worry that someone would come into the house loudly and wake her napping sister.  I haven’t had to worry about peaking out the window every two minutes to make sure she’s okay while playing outside. I could do anything I want right now without being interrupted.  In some ways that’s really nice.

But you know what?  No one has offered to grow their hair as long as ‘Tangled’ “so you don’t have to walk up the stairs, mommy”, or offered to clean the kitchen floors for me, or asked me for a “squeezy, squeezy” hug.  No one has sung me a song that she made up just for me, or given me a new picture for my refrigerator, or fallen over in giggle fits with her little sister as they hug.  And what she calls “that fun thing we do” (Calendar and math time together) she’ll now be doing with her teacher.

In fact, it feels a bit too quiet around here…

My big first grader!
A back to school kiss from Lilly!