September has left me feeling overwhelmed and unorganized in the midst of change and yet blissfully happy at the same time. So many proud mom moments already since my wild thing turned five earlier in the month. Exactly one week before her birthday was the first day of school or what I like to call “When we got our groove back.” Emerson’s excitement over going to school has been contagious and I definitely feel as though she’s in exactly the right place this school year. We finally have the structure that we’ve both been craving but didn’t have the willpower to enforce on ourselves. I’ve discovered a deep sense of satisfaction in packing E’s lunch, eating breakfast together and dropping her off at school promptly at 8:15. Until this point our mornings have been a complete shit show consisting of whining, crying, and hiding in attempt to resist getting dressed, tooth brushing, and assembling socks, shoes, and appropriate outer-wear. There were many mornings that I wanted to cry right along with her… especially when the whole process was repeated once I dropped her off at daycare. I almost can’t believe the difference in her this fall.

Our elementary school offers a transitional kindergarten class that acts as a stepping stone between preschool and kindergarten. I knew this was perfect for my daughter who met the age requirement to begin kindergarten, but only by a week. In the past I’ve been eager to begin new things with her and perhaps jumped the gun on some activities which ended up hindering more than it helped (ie. dance, potty training, etc.).  TK is basically an extra year of nurturing and learning before beginning kindergarten. She does everything the K kids do but with a much smaller class size and in turn a great deal of 1:1 attention. Already she’s off to a great start and comes home enthusiastically telling me about her day, wanting to read books, spelling new words, and reminding me about what’s to come later in the week. It’s awesome. She loves her teacher and is obsessed with the principal! It seems like such a small act, but watching her walk down the hallway to her classroom every morning wearing her backpack with lunchbox in hand makes my whole day. I had been nervous for months about how she’d handle this transition from a smaller-sized daycare with familiar faces to a full-sized school of complete strangers but she’s loved every day to date and I could not feel more relieved.

This past week we celebrated homecoming and I experienced a revived feeling of school pride dressing her up every day and hearing her sing pep-rally cheers from way back in the day! Highlights of the week for Emerson included a fishing trip at the DNR pond, a yo-yo demonstration, and of course the homecoming parade. I can’t wait to see what the rest of the school year brings!