I’m connected to about 200 people on Facebook and at least 40% of them posted 1st day of school pictures. They posted awesome pictures! Gorgeous smiles, haircuts, new clothes, backpacks, hugging siblings and friends.
I did not post a picture and I’ll tell you why.
#1- Greyson’s 1st day of school was actually a 2 hour orientation that consisted of a 20 minute speech by the Headmaster, Mr. Lewis (couldn’t hear him), a 20 minute speech by the President of the PTO (couldn’t hear her), sign ups for after-school activities and a quick meet and greet with the teachers. We were in and out of there in about an hour and a half.
#2- I forgot to take a picture in front of the house before school so I had to stage this one at the end of the day which included a bribe to get Grey to put on his backpack and smile (Graham wouldn’t take the bribe but still managed to photo bomb the picture)
#3- This fake smiling photo is the perfect facade for what has, thus far, been a very very VERY difficult week of school for our first-born. Posting a picture felt phony.
*GREYisms* (spoken with red swollen eyes, tear-stained cheeks, heartbreaking quivery lips)
- “I can’t handle it mom, I just can’t”
- “The day is too long and I’m too tired”
- “I just think about you all day…and when I think of you, I cry”
- “I don’t like school”
- “Drop-off is hard on me”
- “Pick-up is my favorite part”
- “School’s not fun”
There are probably more but you get the picture. Here’s the good news – these comments start around 7:30pm, just before bedtime and end just as the bell rings the next morning. Mrs. Honey, his teacher, said the days are great. I’d like to tell her that she should start her day at our house around 7am and feel free to get him ready and make sure he eats his breakfast which if you know Mike is always amazing- waffles and eggs or pancakes and bacon, fruit, toast with jam- you get the picture. And all the while we’re volleying between empathy and “I know honey” to anger and frustration. Mornings at our house have been an extremely unpleasant experience and I am literally praying that God gives me the words to soothe his anxiety and take away his fear. So tomorrow marks the 5th day of his first full week of school and Mike and I are in the kitchen laughing about it, which I suppose is a good thing. We both believe that tomorrow is the day- and this is the first night we’ve been able to say that!
GRAHAM*isms*
- G: (Graham’s first day) “Are you going to stay with me Dad?”
- M: “Nope. I’ll pick you up later!”
- G: “OK!”
They are brothers, I swear.
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