This Kindergarten thing.

It took us a while to get the hang of this Kindergarten thing but I think it finally feels real now. It started off a little bit different than I had anticipated.
 My sweet little Ella Reese got in trouble on the THIRD day of school! I can laugh about it now, but it sure did throw me for a loop and a whirlwind of crazy mom emotions.

The first day of school went great. Second day she was a little more nervous and was holding back the tears during drop off but was great when I picked her up. Third day went great at drop off and she even had a little extra pep in her step because she had slept in braids and was loving her wavy hair. When I picked her up from school she seemed a little more quiet. Then she says in a very quiet whisper, "Mom, I need to tell you something." Ok babe, what is it? "I got in trouble at school today." I'm kind of shocked and very calmly ask her what happened. She then tells me that she snuck off the playground during recess and went inside the classroom to play toys. She told me that it was her idea and that she talked 2 boys into going with her. I lost it y'all. Not in a screaming mom voice kind of way, but in a I can't even talk because I can't stop crying kind of way. The way that Ella told the whole story upset me the most. She didn't seem upset about it at all and almost had a little smirk on her face each time I asked her more questions about it. I wanted her to realize that what she did was wrong and dangerous. I wanted her to feel bad for scaring the teacher. I wanted her to be sorry for talking her friends into breaking the rules with her. She told me that when she asked some of her classmates to go with her, they said no. I asked Ella what she said to them next that made them change her mind. She said to them, "Come on, lets have a party!"  Are you kidding me?! All that was going through my head was a vision of Ella swinging a beer can around and saying to her friends, "Come on, lets have a party!" I mean, I am the mom who loves to make every moment a party so I can't really blame her reasoning with them. Our life motto is to celebrate always...

Once we got home I told her there would be no tv for the weekend and that she needed to start working on an apology letter to her teacher. I wrote out I am sorry on 5 different sheets of paper and had her write it 50 times. It actually ended up being great practice for her. She usually doesn't let me push her that hard when we work on writing and I give in. This time she didn't even try to complain. She picked her pencil up and began writing. 

Once Bob got home we talked about it and he reassured me that this did not mean she was going to be a rule breaker all the time. We sat her down and had the whole talk about respecting the rules and what the teachers say. Her teacher was wonderful with the whole situation and showed so much grace towards Ella. She is such a fantastic teacher and I can already see the huge blessing she is going to be for us this year.
We have gone through a couple weeks of school now and Ella really seems to enjoy it. I feel like I have gotten the hang of it too. Bob is the only one in our family that is a morning person so the whole getting up and going by 7:45 was an adjustment for us girls. I have gotten to eat lunch with Ella at school which was so fun! I love getting to see all the kids and how they all act in the school setting. I have even gone to my first PTA meeting already! I have kind of been waiting my whole life for stuff like this. School programs, field trips, pep rallies, football games. I just love the whole atmosphere!


I will keep you guys updated on my little rebel:)