Ben's First Day of School

I am not sure if all mothers do this, but I do. Whenever we reach a moment where our children are about to conquer a brand new task in life, it becomes more overwhelming to me than it is for them. Once again, I put on my brave face and my Oscar deserving performance to hide any anxiety I may be feeling about this new task. I also feel as if I am the ONLY mother who is or ever have faced this situation. In this case, it was Ben starting Kindergarten and riding a school bus. I constantly had to remind myself that many, many mothers have been through this with their kids and survived! At the time, I didn't feel as such.

My own mother haunted me with stories of my younger brother's first experience alone on the school bus. They had a practice run on the bus the first day of school with their mothers. However, the following day, the kids rode alone. My brother walked up the steps and sat down in his seat before realizing that my mom was not behind him this time. He started to cry. My mom watched him get whisked away on the bus as he looked out the window and cried. This story did not help alleviate any anxiety I was already feeling.

Peruse through the pictures below to see how our first day turned out:

Dad and Ben walking to the bus stop ahead of me.

My attempt to give Ben a hug. He preferred to hold on tight to his bus pass.

That smile never left his face all morning.

Ben practically flew onto the bus...not a glance back.

7.5 hours later, we are back at the bus stop waiting for Ben.

Ben returned home holding on tight to his bus pass.

Ben had a great first day. I drove to the school that morning to spy on him and to be sure he found his teacher who was waiting for all her students in front of the building. He didn't shed a single tear. I, on the other hand, shed quite a few. Ben is in Kindergarten, and I have many more anxiety attacks to look forward to!