First, to answer the burning question in all of your minds…No, I did not cry. I’m not saying I wasn’t emotional…it was quite a week, with the loss of a hometown hero, my father-in-law, and the first day of school… but i didn’t cry.  I am convinced that it is solely because of how ready she was for this day. We had long since before reached the days where we were at each other’s throats by mid morning because of her bustling energy and enthusiasm for EVERYTHING. And although that doesn’t mix well with my personality in the morning, it is one of the things I love most about her. She isn’t shy in the least and she is always ready for something new.

So, I knew this first day would be no big deal for her.

She woke up ready to go!

And walked in ready to go too. That first day, we get to school and are taking these pictures in front of her locker, and Ellie says to us “Um…can you hurry? I have to go play with my friends now.”

I’m amazed that in this picture by her locker we didn’t capture any other mad rush of parents trying to get that first day picture of their child. They were everywhere…really, we weren’t the only ones.

The lockers are a new addition this year to her school – and very handy I might add. I love knowing that where i put her coat in the morning…there it will stay. And, it frees up a lot of room in their actual classroom.

One of my very favorite stories from the first day of school…bear with me if you’ve heard it.

She brings home a paper that has “Help Tommy get to school” with a maze drawn on it. It has pictures of Tommy and the school, but also has pictures of the post office, the library, and the playground. Well, she drew a beautiful line from Tommy to school…but also drew lines from him to everywhere else on the paper. On top of those incorrect lines, there were red x’s that the teacher had made. I asked her why there were red x’s on her paper and she hesitated and then said sheepishly “the teacher said he should just go to school….but I just wanted him to go everywhere.”

That’s my girl. That’s her spirit. She’s in it for the experience and wanted Tommy to be the same way.

I just hope school doesn’t take that beautiful spirit and crush it.

I told her that when she’s in school, she has to listen to the teacher’s directions, and when she gets home we can draw as many lines as she wants.

We’re now a couple months into school…and she still loves it. She still gets excited about going every morning. I’m just hoping we hang onto that for the next, well, 12-16 years at least.