Are you wondering how the kids' first days at their new schools went? Just wonderfully! I had a strange peace about me when I took L. through the carpool line yesterday morning. He opened the car door and zipped out as fast as he could (I had already asked him if he wanted me to walk him in--"no way, Mama--that's not at all cool") and then, at the school entrance he stopped and held the door open for a small group of much taller and older kids--eighth graders, probably. They thanked him and one patted him buddy-like on the shoulder as he went by and my heart melted--for L., and for the kindness of that bigger kid.
He ate his lunch in the cafeteria--every bite of it. I had packed him two mini bagels, a Tiger's Milk protein bar, and a carton of coconut water and he ate and drank it all. The cafeteria, he told us, wasn't at all like the one at his old school. This one was quiet, and brightly lit, with tall ceilings and it smelled liked freshly baked bread, instead of the warmed-over food smell that used ot make him gag. He couldn't believe how quiet and relaxed the cafeteria was, compared to the noisy chaos of his elementary school one.
He met two kids, "possible friends," he told us.
He was smiling when I saw him--smiling and happy. My heart was so happy, too.
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On her first day, T. didn't want to be walked in, as we imagined she would--new school and all that. She wanted to be dropped off at carpool and to walk in by herself, so Scott did just that. I wanted to be there--I ached to see her walk, new backpack on her shoulders, through those school doors. But I had an 8:00 am class yesterday, and her school starts at 8:30, so I took L., and watched him go through his school's doors, taking my heart with him. Somewhere around 8:15, just the time when she would be walking into her own school, and right around the time when I was teaching the art of the narrative paragraph to my students, I sent my heart out to T. It followed her inside, and down the hallway, and into her new classroom.
That's the amazing thing about a mama's heart, really: the places it can go, the love that strengthens as it multiplies.
Happy weekend--and stay safe from Irene!