Frolicking Flamingo: First Day of School

What a difference a year makes! Last year, at the start of Kindergarten, I was a nervous wreck. Casey was starting at a new school (with uniforms!) and we had missed the Parents' Night meeting because we were still on vacation and the New Student Orientation got cancelled because a tropical storm hit hundreds of miles away somewhere and had no effect whatsoever here. So we appeared at the first day of Kindergarten with Casey in the wrong uniform. I was mortified. Casey didn't care. Here's a picture of him last year on the first day of Kindergarten:

Look at the poor child -- blissfully unaware that he is not even dressed properly for his first day of school!

Anyway -- this year I made it to the Parent Night and I took Casey to meet his teacher the day before school started. While we were walking across campus, I was almost skipping with delight. I was so excited for school to start! And not for the reason you think -- sure, it will be good to get Casey back in the routine of school and homework and out of the routine of TV and video games. For some reason, Casey going back to school made me feel like I was going back to school and I loved school. I would go back again if someone would pay me to. Seriously, the beginning of a new school year is fantastic, right? New notebooks, new pens, new teachers to impress, fresh new books! Poor Casey. I was walking along with him and just gushing, "Isn't this exciting?? New teacher! New books! New P.E. clothes! This is going to be a GREAT year, don't you think? Don't you think you'll learn SO MUCH? Aren't you just giddy with the possibilities??" Casey said, "Do we still get to have pizza on Fridays?" Ah, well.

Note three things: 1) proper Chapel uniform for the first day (way to go, Mom); 2) tennis shoes that have to be tied (as opposed to zipped or velcroed); and 3) (although you can't really see this) shorts that button. So Casey pulls his shoes on and off without untying and retying them and pulls his shorts down and back up without unbuttoning or buttoning them. It's like he missed getting the gene for manual dexterity. The first day he didn't even go to the bathroom at school. When we got back to the house he flew to the bathroom (after asking me first to unbutton his pants). The next day was when he figured out that he could actually pull them down and up without having to unbutton. And check this out:

He's definitely the biggest kid in his class. I saw the high school varsity football coach in his classroom on Friday scoping him out. By the end of his first day, he was miserable with that shirt and tie. The collar was itching when I dropped him off. At some point during the day, his teacher unbuttoned his collar for him. But even so, I felt so bad for him when I picked him up that afternoon -- it was over 90 degrees and the kids had been waiting out on the "deck" for longer than usual because pick-up is always a little slow on the first day. He was dripping with sweat and the minute he got in the car he was getting that shirt and tie off. Come to think of it, he managed to get that shirt off all by himself, buttons and all! Not to mention the tie! In about 16 seconds. I guess needing to go to the bathroom doesn't measure up to the urgency of getting an itchy shirt and tie off. We all have our priorities, I suppose.

Mace was disappointed that he didn't get to go to school with Casey. So he consoled himself by wearing Casey's uniform around the house for a few days: