It began…
Jonathan is now in Kindergarten. His elementary school journey began last Thursday.
Naturally it began with the first day of school photos. I let him choose inside or outside, and he wanted to go outside. He chose the location…under a tree. Amazingly, he actually seemed excited to hold the photo board this year.
His little brother joined in the fun. He wanted to be in the photographs and ready with a cheerful smile. The smile could have been because brother was smiling or maybe he knew with brother being away most of the day he would have run of the house. Or maybe he was just excited because Oliver also grabbed his toddler-sized backpack and his mask. He was ready to go.

We arrived early to school. I wasn’t going to get more photos but…JD wanted some taken in front of the school sign. Of course then I followed it up with “let’s go to the Welcome Back sign” the PTO put up for Meet the Teacher a few days prior.
We waited by the front entrance for the first bell to ring with all of the other new students and returning students.
Then, the bell rang. The kids took off into the building. There were a couple of hugs. Maybe some misty eyes from JD. I put my sunglasses over my misty eyes – had to be strong for the little guy or he might have never gone into the building.
JD seemed to have a good day. There were no phone calls and he wasn’t crying at the end of the day. He really didn’t share much about the first day except there was no nap time. Welcome to the real world.
Really, the second day was the hardest for drop off. When the bell rang to go in, JD went in. Oliver and I waited – just in case. Sometimes you have a feeling. When the crowd cleared he was still inside by the front office looking around.
He came back outside, gave me one more hug. Then, one of the staff members came up to help guide him to his classroom.
For Monday, day three of Kindergarten, he went in with ease and never came out. Little brother was a little more…difficult…to pull away from the building.
Though he doesn’t share what he did in class, he does share what he had for lunch. Chicken nuggets. Those were the best when I was in elementary.