Riley Forster: Kindergartner

So, today the world changed. Riley started (full-day) kindergarten at the Cottage Street School. She's in Ms. Sullivan's class with 21 of her new closest friends. It was a sunny day, more like summer than fall. I never bargained for what it would be like to send our first off to kindergarten, even after 2 years of pre-school. Jen was the strong one. I was a mess from the moment I stepped into the living room and saw her dressed in her first day outfi. Let's just say I ducked behind several corners and kept my comments to a minimum. Riley was excited to get going and Sydney would not be left behind with Auntie Jodi and Uncle Phil who were in town visiting. Getting Syd out of the classroom when it was time to go was a great challenge.

Dinner was an event as Riley ran down the day's events, starting with gym, but they didn't do gym, they just read a book about a boy in a class with a fat gym teacher that told them what they would be doing in gym. 2 recesses. Lunch in the cafeteria. She didn't eat her banana. The teachers didn't know the rules, so the kids had to make them up. Riley's addition to the rules was "no pushing." Sand table, drawing table and home again in one piece. Jen was beside herself because she was 10 minutes late to pick Riley up and all of the halls were empty when she arrived...because she was 10 minutes early and everyone was still in class.

So tomorrow is day 2 and maybe it will become easier to believe that this is all happening.