Butterflies

We have had a busy day today, what with the first day of school, potentially the first day of work for me (still waiting to hear from the district re: my background clearance) and getting to spend lots and lots of time waiting to get things straightened out after the theft of my wallet this weekend.

Joe-Henry was killing me last night at bedtime. He suddenly got so nervous about going to school ALL DAY and being in FIRST GRADE, and suddenly becoming a problem child whose misbehavior will surely bring down the wrath of his teacher and send him to the principal's office. Can I just say, as much as he can test ME, he would no more get sent to the principal for behavior problems than I would suddenly develop a keen interest in NASCAR. He is a model citizen at school, and sometimes I worry that he tries too hard to be good. Does that make any sense? Anyway, this morning I woke him up at 7:00, and fed him breakfast. He wrote a note to his new teacher that said "From Joe-Henry. Dear Mrs. Grammer, I am excited about the first day of school. (PS) I am a little nervous, too." As he walked down the hill to the bus, he was holding back tears. He didn't even kiss me goodbye, he just walked right up onto the bus, without looking back. I waved mightily at the kids I could see in the windows, some from his class last year, but I couldn't spot my boy. It kills me that he tried so hard to be brave all by himself. As much as I want him to be independent and learn to take care of himself that way, it's still hard to see my little man take that step away from me.

After I dropped him off, I got to spend the whole morning at the DMV and the Social Security office getting my stuff replaced. Can I just tell you how glad I am that I don't work at the Social Security Office? Um, just really, really glad.

It's almost 2:00 p.m. and I have yet to hear back from the District Office. I don't know when I'll start work, but I assume it's going to be this week sometime. I'm kind of glad that we're not dealing with two firsts today, though. In two weeks, we'll be back in the groove, feeling a bit more settled. Well, at least one of us will.