First Day of School! First Day of School!

It goes so fast, blah blah blah. All the cliches are true.

This baby -->
started kindergarten today. She and the Peanut and I walked to the end of our little street and waited a minute or two for the bus. Then a hug for her sister, and she stepped aboard, frog backpack in hand -- off to kindergarten.

I'm so proud of her for being ready for this big independent step, and taking to it so well.

Also my heart is a little bit broken, in the way that mothers' hearts break when their babies get on the bus. I cried shamelessly back to the house. Just as on her first day of preschool, I felt this awful tugging in my chest. Heartache.

Our bus driver is a lovely man. He said to the Bean, "give your mother big a hug before we go, she needs it today." That was kind. I am already thinking about things to bake for him when it's frigid outside and driving the school bus maybe doesn't seem like the best of jobs.

I am sure I'm not the first mother in the universe who put her child on the bus, then drove to the school and observed her arrival from a discreet distance (I promise I will do this only once). The Bean got out, someone hung a tag around her neck (name, address, bus number), and she joined the line of kids in her class. A couple of the boys are familiar from preschool, which is nice. She seems little, though not tiny. She only just turned five, maybe she's the youngest in the class. Assembled, they marched in... Bean at the end of the line, a bit apart from the group, because that's how she does things. She'll be fine. Good-bye, sweet Bean. Be safe. Have fun!

And... we'll see you at lunchtime.

It's only a couple of hours, but the first day's a doozy.