First Day of School

Even though I am not starting school with the kids until after Labor Day, Lincoln's Option's Day classes started this week. I, of course, had to jump on the photography band wagon and take a first day of school picture while I had the chance. I kept seeing everyone else's kids' first day of school pics on Facebook, and I wanted one to post too. :)

We took Linc to school. I walked him down to his classroom. We were the first ones there, and his teacher wasn't there yet, so I waited with him awhile, and got to watch him explore his class room. It was decorated super cute, with bright colors and fun pictures, and all kinds of different things they will be learning about this year. It was everything a first grade classroom should be. And Lincoln was just so excited, he just kept walking around and around looking at everything and talking a mile a minute. I told him he had to remember everything he did so he could tell me all about it when he came home.

It was strange having Lincoln gone all day. I almost didn't know what to do. I wasn't sad though. I was really excited for him. And since he only goes one day a week, it feels like he's off having a good adventure and will be back soon, instead of like he's leaving me forever. I don't know how people send their kids to school all day. I think it would be nice for about a week, and then I'd be bored and I would miss them like crazy. So this once a week thing is going to work out really nicely for everyone.

We went to pick up Lincoln at the end of the day. When I saw him I said, "Linc how was your day?" And he said, "Good! First grade is easy!" I had to laugh. I guess that means I've been doing my job for the last couple of years. As soon as he got in the car I asked him a million questions about how it went. Until he said, "Mom, I kind of need a break from questions. I've been doing stuff all day." I laughed and backed off. But it was hard, because I really wanted to know all about it. I did say, "Well, I missed you today Linc." And he said, "I missed you too Mom, and Ivan and Del too."

Linc made me wait all afternoon and evening. Then, after I got the other kids in bed, and Aaron was off to Elder's Quorum meeting, and Lincoln and I were sitting on the school room couch doing his 20 minutes of reading out loud, he started to open up and tell me about his day.

He said very first thing they went to tumbling class, and the class had a big foam pit that you could jump into. He said he learned how to do cartwheels on the really bouncy mat, and that he got to jump on a trampoline and learned to do tuck jumps and straight jumps. Next he said he went back to the classroom with his teacher, then he laughed and said, "Well actually she doesn't want me to call her Teacher, she wants me to call her Miss Madsen, but I can call her Teacher when I'm talking to you Mom, you won't tell her right?" They played a game with a beach ball that had get-to-know-you questions written on it. The kids tossed the ball to each other, and when they caught it they had to answer the question closest to their thumb. Lincoln said one round he got the question, "What is your favorite animal?" And so he answered a dog. (I didn't know a dog was his favorite animal.) He said the math they did was way easier than the math I do with him, and that he only had to do six problems. He said that he learned a new way to write the date like this: 8/29/2013 instead of writing August 29, 2013 which is the way I've always had him do it. His teach told them a story about history and how we know what happened long ago because we find things that got left behind. She had them dig through a box of sand with paint brushes to find pieces of broken pots and jewelry. (From Lincoln's description is sounded a lot like the introductory chapter to Story of the World.) He said they had some free reading time, and he had picked a story about a ghost off the shelf. The ghost was a silly ghost that liked to eat toast. He said Miss Madsen also read them a few stories. He told me that he sits on table #2 and that there are seven people in his class. More boys than girls. He couldn't remember anyone's names. But he made friends with a girl and sat by her at lunch time. She shared her granola bar and brownie with him, and he gave her a slice of his apple. He also gave his teacher a slice of his apple. They did an art project with five sticks, they colored them, and then there is a way to lay the sticks together so that they'll stay in a triangle without using glue. Then you throw the sticks at the floor and they break apart and go everywhere, and then you can build the triangle again. He showed me his sticks and we built the triangle. It was fun. He said that throughout the day the kids earned gold doubloons for being good. If they earned five then at the end of they got to pick a little prize out of a treasure chest. Lincoln picked a foam airplane.

What I loved most was watching the excitement in his eyes as he was telling me everything. It was one of those moments that I hope shows up on the highlights reel in Heaven when I get to watch the movie of my life. I'm really glad he had a great first day, and that he's excited about his class. I think this is going to be a good opportunity for all of us.