'Twas the Night Before Kindergarten...

The school supplies have been bought and labeled, the 'first day of school' outfit has been ironed, and his backpack is ready by the door.  I've read and re-read the parent handbook, tried to think of "everything" and I'm as nervous as a cat! Noah's first day of Kindergarten is tomorrow.  I feel like it's MY first day of school.  Now that the kids are in bed, there are so many things I should be doing (folding clothes, loading the dishwasher, etc) but I can't do anything but sit and think about my baby and how quickly the past 5 years have flown right before my eyes.  It feels like just yesterday that we brought that tiny bundle of joy home from Huntsville Hospital.  We were nervous, excited and a tiny bit scared!  These 5 years have been a roller coaster of emotion, with us worrying so much over him in the beginning, yet still loving him more than I knew was physically possible.  He made us parents for the first time and he has been our world.  I knew I had 5 years of him at home with me until his school years and somehow, that time is already up.  I hope I took advantage of it fully and enjoyed my days with him as much as possible.... I sure believe I did.

It really is hard turning him over to someone else for majority of the day.  We had the pleasure of meeting his new teacher, Mrs. D last week at orientation and I really like her.  However, with Noah not talking, I know it take time for her to learn him and his behaviors in order to figure out what it is that he needs or wants.  She doesn't know his quirks yet and what they all mean, other than what I've told her.  He can't come home and tell me about his day or what he learned.  I have to trust that he's being treated kindly (which I do feel like he will be).  I'll have to rely on her to tell me how his day went.  It makes me incredibly uneasy and nervous and it's very overwhelming.  However, I know my sweet, happy son and I know that before long, he will have won everyone over.  He's very friendly and social to be a little boy who doesn't speak and I hope that just like with his classmates at Handy, he will quickly make friends and will have a great time while he's there.  Every time Jamie or I talk with him about tomorrow, he gets a huge smile on his face and acts excited so I think he understands something big is happening.  He may even realize that he's going back to school.  I'm so excited for him and what the school year has in store for him.  I feel like he's going to learn so much and come so far.  He's going to be working with individuals trained specifically to work with children with disabilities so I know he's in great hands. I've been praying my heart out for him, his teachers, aides and classmates.  I pray that he loves school, that he learns so much and that the kids are kind, compassionate, and friendly to him.  It's just a bittersweet milestone.  And I know that within a few days it will be our new normal and everything will be fine.