First Day - 2nd Grade

My baby started second grade yesterday, and it was a good day. We had some rain here, which makes for a weird first day of school, but it turned out nicely because the parents were less likely to hang around and let the little ones be clingy. Dermot, of course, didn't care, and I'm happy about that.

Here's the crazy part - we got tons of communication telling us how the first day of school was supposed to go down. All kids would line up outside by their new teacher, then the teacher will take them inside. For the rest of the year, the kids line up inside. So Dermot and I get to the school and every single class is outside except for his. His teacher (and I don't blame her) didn't want to wait out in the rain, so she had them go inside to wait. Unfortunately, this means that I didn't get to meet her. I was hoping to introduce myself to her on the first day, but it didn't happen.

The worst part about Dermot's first day of school was that it happened on the day of the week when I teach my night class. I wasn't home when Dermot got home. I didn't get home until 9:30. Of course, he was so excited and I knocked something over and made a noise, so he came down to see me just a little bit before he went back to bed. I didn't get to hear all of the stories that Ethan got to hear, though.

Dermot was so excited to be back at school and with his friends that he talked about it all night apparently. That makes me happy. We've had a really hard time getting his friends together. In a couple of years, he can walk over to their houses by himself, but for now, he still needs some parental involvement.

Last year he didn't get to pick who he ate lunch with, this year he did. So Dermot and his three friends sit together for lunch and they also got to sit together for art class which started yesterday. He's thrilled, and so am I. His teacher did some puzzle-y, silly things for day 1 and that really made a positive impression on Dermot, too. He's really looking forward to seeing what she has to offer.

Dermot likes to play cool and pretend that he doesn't like school during the summer break, but he really does. He likes having a purpose and being around his friends. I love that for him too. I'm not even worried about the academic component yet. I just want him to take his time re-adjusting and enjoying the social aspect of school. Now we're going to have to have talks about how great friends are, but goofing off with them at school will probably mean that they don't get to sit together. All things in moderation. Right?