First Day of School

Today was Stephen's first official day of school! He is in Junior Kindergarten this year, which in Canada, is a preschool that is part of the kindergarten program in the public schools. He has been looking forward to this day for sooo long!

We did great this morning, making sure we had everything ready to go so we could be out the door and at the bus stop before the bus came. I thought we were well ahead of schedule, but the bus must have been, too! We got to the bus stop, said hello to the other students waiting in line, chatted a bit with the other kindergarten mother that was there and within a minute or two, that big yellow bus came roaring around the corner! It all happened so fast, I didn't even get to give my little baby one last hug before he got at the end of the line and was climbing on the bus! I watched as his little head slowly walked past row after row of seats (some of them empty!), all the way to the back of the bus where he squeezed in with two other children. I guess I forgot to tell him that he could sit in any seat that was empty or nearly empty. He had been talking about sitting in the front right next to the door so that he could see out the front window, but I guess not. Ok. Why am I relaying all these details? I guess because I'm a first time mom sending my baby off to school on a bus without me! I need to talk about the details just to make sure it was real.

Well, he came home with a happy face. He was telling us all about the bus ride home and how the kids were joking that the bus driver was going to drop one of the kids off at Sears and the other was going to Zellers (discount store) and the other was going to be dropped off at Zehrs (grocery store). He thought it was quite humorous. He told us about the building that he built with the blocks and how he wrote his name with really big letters, but he only did "S" and "T" and then he ran out of room. He told us that there were too many pretzels for his snack and that another boy named Jonathan (but not the Jonathan that is our cousin) had a Thomas backpack. Wow. I LOVE that I have a chatterbox little boy! We got to hear all kinds of stories from him this morning, and he willingly shared the details!

We missed Stephen this morning. He's such a people person who always wants to be in the thick of things and we really noticed his absence. Even my little introverted Timothy was asking when it was time to go get Stephen from the bus. I have to confess, though, that even though we missed Stephen, I sure got a lot of stuff done this morning! We went to the library to return our books and get the boys' birthday books (free books on your birthday up to age 12!), put Christopher down for a nap, Timothy played alone in all his glory (no one to steal his trains or blocks or crayons!) and I did two loads of wash including putting them away, made supper, cleaned the kitchen, played with Timothy, read him books, caught up on some emails, etc, etc. Just one little boy away at school gave me so much more time. I didn't have to break up one fight all morning! :)

Our little baby is now our big school boy. God, please protect that little boy and let him make friends with those who will be a good influence on him. Let him shine for you and reflect your love. Did I teach him everything he needed to know before he left for school? I don't think so, but that's where I have to rely on You! Take care of our little boy at school!

PS Werner was released from the hospital this morning and is resting at home! He wasn't supposed to be released until Friday, but he's doing well enough to be at home! Thank the Lord for that!