Thursday Thirteen #13

Thirteen Emotions I felt yesterday when taking Ethan to Grade One

1. Anxiety – He had a nervous stomach the night before, and actually threw up once. He was anxious about whether he would know anybody in his class, whether he would like the teacher, whether he would have too much work in Grade One, etc. I was nervous that he was going to throw up again, because yuck.
2. Exhaustion – I’ve been getting Ethan up twice a night to pee. So I have sacrificed a lot of snooze time these past two weeks since it is so freaking hard to get back to sleep. Added to which, I have to drag their butts out of bed to make it in time for school. Oh, I am never going to be a morning person.
3. Jealousy – Grade One is going to be COOL! I am going to live vicariously through Ethan! I am going to have playdates and recess and hot lunch Fridays and assemblies... oh wait, that’s not all for me? Poo.
4. Disappointment – I’m going to miss the little guy around here. Sigh.
5. Panic – What? The other kids brought school supplies with them? But I bought them from the school... where ARE they? Ethan, are they in your new desk? Your cubby? WHERE? How will they know which ones are YOURS? Oh never mind, there they are.
6. Fear – I am scared of bullies, scared he won’t make new friends, scared that I will not be there to protect him.
7. Pride – He looks so grown up! I MADE that kid! And he’s the cutest one in there! Look at Ethan, everyone, isn’t he the best First Grader ever?
8. Boredom – OK Jack, so now what? What are we going to do together every day?
9. Anger – He is NOT going to be sitting next to THAT troublemaker. I will have a word or two to say to his teacher about THAT.
10. Surprise – Ethan will have two teachers this year. One will teach Mon, Tue, Wed and the other will teach Thu & Fri. The idea didn’t faze Ethan, but I was a little taken aback. That’s not how they did it in my day...
11. Excitement – Any way you look at it, there is just plain excitement in the air around the school today. Just a little bubble of giddiness bubbling over into the air.
12. Sadness – That some of his good friends from Kindergarten won’t be in his class. Most are just next door, but a couple have changed schools and I will miss the moms almost as much as Ethan will miss his friends. I sense a few Starbucks meetups in the future...
13. Joy – And lastly, just plain joy when I looked at Ethan’s face at the end of the day and asked him how it went. “I loved it, Mummy, it was GREAT! Grade One is SO much better than Kindergarten!” Given how much he loved Kindergarten, that is high praise indeed.
    

Sorry for the crummy quality photo – I snuck my hand around the door and snapped a shot of Ethan with my phone.
PS No comments about me being a stalker-mom, please... :)