First Day of School

My nephew, Carson, is starting preschool this year.  He has been talking about it for months and months, and getting more and more excited with every day.  His mother was worried that he would be scared to join the class.  She had concerns about whether or not he would behave himself, make friends, or even want to go back to school after the first initial excitement wore off.

The big day came, and Carson got all ready to go with his “big boy backpack,” and his family, including his little brother Josh, went to drop him off. The picture above shows Carson discovering the new and exciting world of preschool.  Since then, he hasn’t had a problem going to school.  He made friends just fine and is still pretty excited to go each day!
  
Every mom worries about their child’s reaction to their first school experience and in the end/most of the time, there is nothing to even be worried about. Although Carson does miss his brother when he is gone at class, he loves every minute of his “big boy school”.

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First Day of School… again

First Grade, First Grade, here we come
We know we’ll have lots of fun.
Lots of things to make and do.
Reading, Writing, Numbers, too.
First Grade, First Grade, here we come.
We know we’ll have lots of fun.

This isn’t the first day of school for Miranda, but her first day of First Grade. And although we’ve been through this before, this year seems to have hit me harder, maybe it’s because it’s a full-day of school now or maybe it’s because she’s my little helper and without her I’d have to take care of her little brother all by myself. The whole family woke up extra early to make sure we would get parking, find her classroom, meet her teacher, and take pictures while we lug all our donated school supplies to the classroom. I made sure that I prepared her First-Day-of School snack and lunch as requested: cheese stick and goldfish, a cutie tangerine, a PB&J sandwich (Mommy, make sure it’s raspberry jelly.), Fritos, a juice box (Mommy, I want the reduced-sugar kind.), and a water bottle. We also pre-selected her First-Day-of-School outfit: a Le Top two-piece shorts set from the Spring 2009 Bloomin’ Beauty collection. And on top of that, we still had the little guy to get dressed and fed. So much hustle and bustle in the morning that you don’t have time to get emotional.

Miranda’s classroom door closed and we headed back to the car, then Paulo looked around and said, “Maw-maw?” (That’s how he says “Miranda.”) —and that did it for me! In those two little syllables he uttered, I knew exactly how he felt. What are we going to do now that Miranda is at school? I missed her already and we’re only in the parking lot. (I know, pathetic!) Most stay-at-home mommies cherish this freedom of being able to go to the gym, or have coffee or lunch with the ladies, or even enjoy a day of uninterrupted shopping. But not me! I was a wreck all day. At lunch (after I fed Paulo) I sat at the table eating slowly, staring at Paulo who was banging a pair of drumsticks on everything in his path, and longing for the silly, endless chit-chat from Miranda as she talked about her crazy dream last night, or what she and her friend did at their playdate, or even just her singing the same lines from “Seussical the Musical” over and over. All I could think about was, “Is it 2:05 yet? Did I pack her enough lunch? Did she wash her hands before eating? Are her classmates nice to her? Is she sad?” So many worries to worry over.

At 2:05 pm sharp, I stood outside her classroom and waited for her to come out. As soon as the door opened, she ran straight to me and said, “Mommy, I had a SUPER day! I made 5 new friends and I got to eat in the lunch room and I played at recess but I was eating too long so I didn’t get to play that much because I couldn’t finish all my goldfish but tomorrow I want 2 cutie tangerines and I have my own desk and we made a dolphin carrying our rules on his back and I get to make a paper doll of myself just like we made in Kindergarten and Eamon is in my class this year and Daniel sits next to me and I didn’t get to sit with Lucas in the lunch room because Sullivan took the seat next to him so I sat next to Kaitlyn and I played exercise with Bella where she is the leader and the other girls follow what she does but it was too hot so I stopped playing to get some water…” Oh, dear! There’s the endless chit-chat that I was missing at lunch. It was so good to hear her stories (in one long sentence). She had a great first day and I was worried over nothing. On to Day 2… wish me luck!

For those back-to-school outfits
shop Le Top’s fall 2010 collection here

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Le Top Takes: Out of the Mouths of Babes!

First day of school and I whispered my parting words of advice to my son. Then I overheard him tell his mother excitedly,

Mom, Dad said I can hit them back if they hit me!

–Renzo, age 5

Editor’s Note:
Please spread the giggles by sharing your funny quotes with us!

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Graduation Time is Here!

Miranda proudly accepts her diploma in Le Top's Sweetheart Butterfly drop waist dress.

My daughter has passed another milestone… Kindergarten! The beginning of the 2009-2010 school year was a day to remember. I dropped off my baby in her classroom with other nervous little children who were sharing their first experience of school. Then the teacher shuffled out all the anxious parents and closed the door. It seemed like a long year full of homework, projects and field trips, but yet it also seemed like the first day of school was just yesterday. In a blink of an eye, I now have a first grader.

Has it really been a year since “Grajuration Day“?

This event was so much more different than graduating from preschool. First of all, these six-year olds are sassy and smart. They learned A LOT this year, not only in the classroom but also from their friends. There was so much attitude in the air, for many reasons:

1. It’s summertime, which means no more homework. They can stay up as late as they want and sleep in. (HA!)
2. Next year they are first graders which means they get to have two recesses, and they get to play on the big kids’ play structure.
3. There are cupcakes after the graduation.

As happy as this day was for the kids, it was bittersweet for the parents. I am happy that she did so well in school and has made a lot of friends, but I am sad that she’s growing up so fast. All I can do is take a mental photograph of this day and cherish it. Tomorrow is another day, and I’m sure summer will be a drag because she’ll be bored not seeing her friends every day and wonder why Mommy and Daddy are still working, and shouldn’t we all be on summer vacation.

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First Day of Kindergarten

Miranda Wearing Cute as a Button Rib Knit Shirt and Baby Wale Corduroy Skort Set

The long-awaited day has arrived. My daughter has been so excited! Alas, it is here…The First Day of Kindergarten.

The night before, we carefully selected what her first-day-of-school outfit will be. She wanted to wear a dress (to give her teacher a good first impression) but I wanted her to wear shorts or pants because sitting on the carpet will be more comfortable. So, we decided on le•top’s 2009 Fall collection Cute As A Button ensemble. The skirt has built-in shorts!!! (My favorite part—why didn’t they have those when I was growing up?) And it went so well with her new Back-to-School ‘do!

For the past month, I have been mentally preparing myself NOT to cry when I drop her off at school. All I could think of was that my baby is growing up, and from now on until she graduates from high school, she will be in school everyday, five days a week, with only a few weeks during the year when she can enjoy childhood. But on the flip side, I realized that I would now have mornings to devote to my 5-month old son who needs my attention now more than ever.

Today, as we drove to school, there was no time to cry. We were running late, the parking lot was full, cars were parked all along the neighboring streets, and the classroom was filled with paparazzi parents snapping cameras and videotaping this monumental day. It was hard to just get my daughter INSIDE her classroom, let alone me and my stroller. After 10 minutes of listening to the teacher take roll and the students reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, the teacher instructed the students: “Please look for your parent and wave goodbye so they can leave and we can start class.” Miranda found me, waved goodbye with a big smile, then sat down for Circle Time.

I exited the classroom then walked back to the car. A single tear rolled down my cheek. All I could think of was that my little girl is a BIG girl now.

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