Allison's First Day of School

Allison started Kid's Day Out on September 9.  What a mix of emotions it caused.  I was so excited for her because I know how much she loves other children, but I was also a nervous wreck to leave my baby for 6 hours.  Luckily, we are blessed with amazing teachers and sweet friends in her class.  It made this special day a whole lot easier on mommy!
Here is a picture of her blanket, lunch box and bag all ready for her big day!

You are probably going to laugh, but here is what went into Allison's lunch.

Her lunch consisted of hummus and crackers, an apple, popcorn, string cheese, a Dora yogurt and a Clif twisty fruit.  I know what you are thinking.  How random! I know, I know! It is totally random. It is a totally random and HUGE lunch for a 23 month old.  I was so worried about the lunch aspect of Kid's Day Out so I decided to pack a lunch the way I pack any bag...with way too much. Allison is an incredibly picky eater so I decided to take all the things she likes and put them in one lunch!  What 23 month old loves hummus and crackers?  Mine does.  My "little vegetarian" is still anti meat (unless it comes from McDonald's) so I did what I could.  Luckily, her teachers said she ate really well!  Thank goodness.  She probably saw the other kids around her eating and decided to join the crowd!

Allison helped me get ready in the bathroom before her big day!  She even tried to hide in the corner!  Silly girl!

Every morning when Allison wakes up, she says, "Kids?"  "Go?" "Bye?" "Car?" "Pool?"  "George?"  "Katie Girls?"   (George, Katie and her sister, Kooper, are some of her friends).  I knew she would love school, but before we left the house, I got a little nervous.  I guess Allison did too...

Luckily, she took a drink and calmed down.  I told her that is certainly not a way to handle problems on a regular basis (just kidding!).

Of course we had to take the typical first day of school front porch pictures.  She is so hard to catch with the camera!

Nick made fun of her back pack. He asked me if she was moving to Kid's Day Out.  She has to be prepared!

OK, so it is a little big, but honestly she gets that from me.  As mentioned earlier, packing is not one of my strong points, I ALWAYS over pack!

And poor Allison!  Remember that HUGE lunch I packed?  Well, as we were walking to the car, she said, "Purse! Purse!" She wanted to carry her lunch box.  I gave it to her and unfortunately, it was just too heavy with all that food!  She fell down!  I felt so bad for her. I carried everything after that.

This is Allison's school...

When I dropped her off she cried.  I know it is natural, but I didn't expect to get emotional.  I had to hold my tears back!  I knew she was in good hands though.  I went to an orientation meeting in the chapel.  Before I left, a friend peeked in at Allison for me and said she was playing and looked happy.  The day flew by.  I had time to run with Shaynna (without a stroller), go to lunch with Nick and some friends and run some errands.  Three o clock rolled around before I knew it.  When I picked Allison up she was in great spirits. Her teachers said she ate really well and even took an hour nap during her nap time! They said she did great for her first day.  Allison and I talked about "Kids," 'School" and "Ina" (one of her teachers) when we got home. I gave her some Dora stickers as a surprise "treat" for her big day.   She was in a great mood.  I honestly thought after six hours she would be a little grouchy, but not at all.  I know this is going to be a great thing for Allison and me.  We are so fortunate to have a great place to take her once a week.