Wednesday, August 15, 2007

The Emma Spotlight (Along with First Grade Firsts)






The first day of first grade arrived already, and I can hardly believe it.

A cute story from the first day:

The girls started out in separate classes. (They are now in the same class...but that's a long story. It was more because of a teacher thing than a kid/separation issue thing.)

Anyway, in Kindertgarten, parents walk to their child's room and pick them up every day, but in first grade, the bell rings, and kids scatter throughout the school to wait at one of the entrances. The girls and I planned on a place to meet, but I was skeptical about them being able to find it in all of the chaos.

On that first day, traffic was a nightmare. First, I had to leave my high school and get through all the yucky first day of school mess, and then I had to drive a mile to the elementary school which was also backed up down the block. I finally parked and made it to the pick up spot, and all around me, thousands of kids were running every which way. (OK...not thousands. The school doesn't have that many. But lots, especially to a mom relying on two six-year-olds to navigate their way through. I saw more High School Musical backpacks than I have ever seen in my life!) Looking through the horde of kids, I realized that Emma and Grace were nowhere to be found and I started getting nervous...then, I spotted them. They were holding hands, walking through the crowd, as if they were each other's life preservers. It was the sweetest thing I've ever seen. Emma had walked to Grace's class and "picked her up," and then they had walked with locked hands the whole way through the school to the gate.

I know I just wrote a whole synopsis of my wild child Grace, but my Emma deserves an entry of her own. She is sensitive, sweet, empathetic, smart (oh my gosh...really smart!) and curious about everything. She is a first grade superstar, and even though she was off to a bit of a rough start with her teacher, she is taking it well and has even expressed concern that she's "hurt her old teacher's feelings" by leaving her class. I am very proud of my beautiful daughter, and yet I know from experience that FEELING your emotions that deeply can be really tough! It's what poets and writers are made of...their hearts on platters for the world to see. I wouldn't change it about myself...I think it makes me the mother I am, the teacher I am, and the person I am. It's what makes me sit and think and write these blogs (more for ME than for anyone else, even though it's fun to get a comment once in a while.) Emma's heart will break over dogs at the pound, kids who are bullied, and a teacher's hurt feelings. She will get her feelings hurt a little too easily sometimes, and she will cry as though God has the hose ready to turn on right behind her little eyelids. Surely she will find a profession where she can give of herself enough to make it all worthwhile...she may not save the world, but those who are touched by Emma will be lucky. :)

1 comment:

Unknown said...

What fun to see your girls growing into PERSONALITIES, and to hear of 1st grade antics. Madi and Logan started up the other day. Madi actually told me what book the teacher read to the class! Logan's philosophy has always been: What happens at school STAYS at school. But maybe that will change this year. He already leaked the info- Mr. B was funny, but Mrs. Koonz is definitely WAY nicer.
NOW, I enjoy all the updates on the young 'uns, but you're really gunna have to get ahold of me to hear how my Little One is coming along! Did your e-mail change or something? I don't have a phone #!