First Day

Grace was so excited for her first day of 4th grade that she woke up at 6:45 am.  Her alarm was set for 7:45 am and she scared the beans out of me when she walked out of her room early.  She was grinning from ear to ear.  She immediately began getting ready for school even though she didn't have to leave for 2 more hours.  She'd had me put her hair in braids the night before so it would be "poufy" and wavy.  We took the braids out and to my surprise, her hair looked really pretty.  I was expecting extreme wildness.

After taking the braids out, she went to get dressed in her new, first-day-of-school outfit.  The shorts were too big.  Thank goodness for adjustable waists.  The shirt was a lovely purple thing with a big, sequined star on the front.  The sequins were reversible.  Put them one way and they're silver.  The other way, they're purple.  Grace decided on silver.  She slipped on her glittery, silver shoes and put a purple hair accessory in her hair.  She was ready.

On to breakfast.  I'd set out a bowl of oatmeal with some cinnamon and sugar in it and a premeasured cup of water next to it with directions on how to make oatmeal.  Grace had never done this and she was supposed to wake up after I left for work.  I watched her stir the water into the oatmeal and carefully put the bowl in the microwave.  She followed directions very well.  I left her before the oatmeal was finished, but she claimed it was good.

This was the first time I left my little girl at home to take care of herself and get to school on her own.  I knew she'd do just fine, but she's still my baby so I still worried.  I'd gotten her a cheap phone to use to let me know she'd made it to school and home from school safely.  I set an alarm on the phone to ring when it was time for her to get her backpack and head to school.  She forgot about the alarm and texted me at 7:45 am saying she was heading to school.  My phone was "updating" so I couldn't text her back and tell her she was too early.  Once at the school, she realized she was early and texted me asking what to do.  Right at that moment, the updating was over and I could respond.  She ended up hanging out with the principal until school started.  I'm glad the principal was outside.

After school, she texted me to tell me she was going to go to the neighbor's house.  I asked her if the neighbor was home.  She didn't respond for a very long time.  Almost 15 minutes.  In those 15 minutes, my heart raced, I panicked, almost drove home to see if she was alive, and cleaned my co worker's desk to keep myself from text-yelling at her.

Once I got home from work, I relaxed.  I could see for myself that my little girl had survived her first day of 4th grade and being home alone.  I really knew she would be.  I knew she'd be playing with the neighbor anyway.  The neighbor is a smart, responsible girl.  I just need to learn how to calm down.

Overall, Grace had a great day and I didn't cry and run home to make sure she was ok.  She was really worn out by the end of the day and went to bed with no argument.  That's rare.