The First Day O' School. Or, The Beginning of the End

Is it melodramatic that I'm feeling like life is over because this is Bennett's last year before Kindergarten?

It may be, but I'm freaking out nonetheless.

It's the beginning of the end. The end of his toddler-hood, the end of being home all day every day, the end of his whole world being our family, the end of him thinking Mommy and Daddy are the coolest people in the world. Pretty soon he'll be moving away and marrying some girl from the University.

I object.

I often voice these objections to Benny-boy.

Me: "I don't WANT you to grow up. Please stop."

Bennett: "Moooom... it's OK! I'll still give you hugs and kisses, even when I'm big."

Sigh.

Do you see now why I refuse to accept him growing up?

Nonetheless, school started today, and I decided to get over my temper tantrum and make it a special day. After all, I do love a good reason to break out traditions!

Like the "Special breakfast on the First-Day-of-School" Tradition.

I made these apple cinnamon muffins. They were amazing (I made mini muffins instead of biggies, just FYI). I served Benny's up with some yogurt.

Along these lines, we also celebrated the "Bring-the-Teacher-an-Apple-on-the-First-Day-of-School" Tradition. Also known as "My-Mama-is-a-Kiss-Up" Tradition.

I packaged up 12 of our Apple mini-muffins in an egg carton. I found this cute idea on Pinterest. Benny was excited to give them to his teacher Miss Mary!

Moving on... to the "Picture-on-the-Front-Steps" Tradition. Our pics were a little sub-par this year. We were rushed, and we have two young children. Enough said.

Still we got a few semi-cute shots.

Getting a semi-decent picture...

When we got to school, it was all craziness and hustle and bustle, which is not Benny's favorite.
He likes it calm and quiet like his Daddy.

He said hello to sweet Miss Mary, who greeted each child outside the door with a big smile and hug. Love her already.

She oohed and aahed over the gift Bennett brought her, and I saw his little eyes twinkle with pride.

Inside the classroom, Bennett found a quiet corner where he played Dinosaurs and "Guys" (which basically means action-figures in Bennett-speak").

For the first 10 minutes or so, he kept asking me to stay, and then all of a sudden, he said very calmly, "Mama, can you please leave me here now? You can go."

So I kissed him (twice) and told him to be good (10 times) and drove away.

When pick-up time came, my buddy emerged from the classroom wearing a green Birthday Crown since he just had his birthday. He had a great first day of school and told me all about the special snack, the toys and the friends.

We then went and celebrated with our final tradition of the day... the "Special-Lunch-After-The First-Day-of-School" Tradition. This was one my Mom always did with me, and have fond memories of the first day of school!

He picked "Pandamania Express" :0), and we had a really nice lunch and playtime at the park afterwards.

After lunch he said, "What a beautiful day this was. I love this day."

Enough with the preciousness, kid. Can't you see your Mom is hanging on by a thread today? Sheesh.