First Day of School 2007

Well, it's finally here.

The first day of school for Fall 2007! A day in which many kids rejoice and rebel toward going back to school. A day in which there are numerous tears shed by both parents and children. Tears of sorrow (kids) and tears of joy (parents) and some of both (kindergarten parents).

Today is the first day for our kids. Kaitlyn is going into the 4th grade while Jake is starting kindergarten. He was so thrilled about starting it up last night, he was shaking his fists and squealing like it was Christmas Eve. When he got up today, I almost expected him to come running down the stairs looking for his gifts.

Thankfully, we didn't have any kind of conflicts, late arrivals or forgotten lunches. The kids were up and dressed and ate their breakfast at light speed. And, as we all suspected, Mommy wanted a few pics with the children.

Here are a few of those.

Kaitlyn striking a pose, ready for those 4th grade boys:



















Mommy helping Jake tie his shoes:















Mommy messing around with the boy's hair:



















Mommy, Daddy & Jake about to go to the kindergarten wing:















Jake leading the way with Spider-man:



















We arrived to a somewhat controlled chaos in the kindergarten wing with numerous parents dropping off their youngsters. I only saw a few moms wiping their eyes and even less kids bawling. Jake was too excited to see his teacher to be upset. He had new territory to conquer, new friends to make and new audiences to win over with his wit & charm.

Judging by the way he eventually & summarily dismissed us both, I think he was eager to begin his journey of higher education. We left him sitting at his table, watching him furiously smash a big pile of Play-Dough, complete with sound effects. I was a little sad inside as I watched my little running buddy for the last 5 years sit there alone, without his Daddy, making new friends and eagerly anticipating his teacher coming over to see him.

My...no, OUR little boy has grown up.

Kaitlyn, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do (emotionally) with us during this time. She'd already met up with her girlfriends and they were too busy catching up on all the summer gossip, which teacher each friend had and what boys came back from break looking cute. When we waved across the cafeteria toward her, she gave us that glare that said "Dad, quit embarrassing me! I'm fine and I'm talking to my friends!"

Amazing what you can hear just by looking at a 9 year old's eyes. LOL

Once we got Jake dropped off without incident at his room, it was time for us all to leave. The parents that is. As we were walking out, I suggested we stop by Kaitlyn's room to wave good bye one more time before we left. Jennifer thought I was joking and lagged behind me a bit but I forged on, armed with my "daddy-cam".

With the tape rolling as I snuck down the hallway, I crept around the corner to discover Kaitlyn's teacher sitting with her back towards me. As I scanned the room with the video camera, looking for my lovely, sweet daughter, I found her as she was listening intently to her new teacher.

Suddenly, she found me and (this is all caught on tape) shot me the same glance from the cafeteria. Only now, it was a lot more intense and urgent, demanding I cease my embarrassing behavior, stop the tape and leave the premesis!

Again, amazing what a father hears through the eyes of his daughter.

I played back the video as Jennifer & I walked out of the school and saw the "glare" I got. Laughter erupted from us both as we saw the raw emotion being shot right at us. I'll know for future reference to not harrass my daughter like that on any upcoming first days of school.

She's definitely pretty good with those visual daggers.