And off she goes

Alice started Kindergarten today. It's been strangely quiet.

We walked to school together, since she just couldn't wait any longer to get going. She lined up against the wall with the other kids and the parents were all clustered around just looking at each other and taking more photos. The teacher was there. The kids were ready. There was no reason for me to linger. I asked Alice if she wanted me and Buddy to stay until she went into her classroom and she said "No, I'm fine. You can go."

Yes, I did feel a slight, though sudden, loss when I turned and headed home. It wasn't because I was worried about Alice.  It's just that 75% of my life and focus had suddenly disappeared and I was left a little empty for the day. I wondered a bit about how my life and schedule would change. Robert filled the gap splendidly, by the way. He's just as engaging as Alice ever was: constantly asking questions, singing, playing out imaginary scenarios, trying new skills, and needing a good lap every once in a while. He did miss her, though, and asked about her several times, "Why we leave Alice there? Where we going? Why Alice not come? Where Alice?" At lunch, he picked out the "special pink cup" for his water and giggled, saying, "Alice not here. I get pink cup!" He said something similar when I bought some candy at the store and shared it with him. I think he'll come to enjoy this new routine.

We filled our day with shopping, farm chores (Robert's good with a rake), cleaning out the garage (he's also pretty helpful with a push broom), playing with scissors (he's not so handy with these, though), making lunch ("I spread my own peanut butter!"), and finally quiet time ("Why quiet time today?"). Then we took our bikes over to pick up Alice at 3pm. She burst out of the classroom with a big smile and knocked me over with a hug. She was gushing with love and excitement for what she called the best school day ever. Minutes later, on our bike ride home, her legs started getting tired and she started remembering some of the more difficult things about her day: there are a lot of rules to learn, she got hungry for lunch before lunch time, she almost cried at lunch because she missed us, Emerson is not in her class and wasn't at lunch/recess today (half of the KG students came today, the other half tomorrow, then they all go on Wednesday), so on and so forth. I could feel my energy draining at record-breaking speed.

Then, out of nowhere, her bike broke in half.

I kid you not. It split down the middle and she collapsed on the sidewalk.

Alice burst into tears, I burst out laughing. How on EARTH?!?

We picked up the pieces, shoved them in the back of the bike trailer, and she rode in the trailer the rest of the way home...in tears...loud, painful, choking, sobs, punctuated with "Emerson!" "I love Kindergarten and I hate it and I love it!" "My favorite bike is gone forever!"

All my energy was then officially spent. No matter how serene and peaceful and efficient my day had been up to that point, I was suddenly on the edge of my wits. 

Fruit/yogurt smoothies did not lift her mood. Finding another egg in the coop did not lift her mood. An offer to go swimming in the backyard made her even more grumpy, though Buddy hopped at the chance. Our backyard neighbor, Diane, came out and asked Alice about her day, and that led to more grumblings. Alice asked if she could go pick some tomatoes with Diane, and suddenly her mood improved. I wonder sometimes what Alice gets from her social life, but today it was obvious that Alice interacts with other people to recharge herself. She and Diane skipped off to pick tomatoes from Diane's garden. Ten minutes later, she was a different girl. She came up with the idea that if she played in the pool and the dirt hard enough, she would need a bath, and that was worth working towards.

Long story short, Bobby came home before she could really make a mess of herself. We dried off the kids, ate dinner, and enjoyed a movie together for Family Night.

That was Alice's first day of Kindergarten, and my first day as a Kindergarten mom. Exhausting.