1st Day of School

My house was like a Folger’s commercial this morning. My 5-year-old woke up at 6 a.m. bursting with excitement over the 1st day of kindergarten. He ate his breakfast without repeated reminders and raced down the hallway to get dressed. He told his baby sister, “I will miss you today.” My 12-year-old hugged him and said, “I’m proud of you.” It was beautiful and surreal. Are these the same kids that threw video game controllers at each other last night? I have to say I expected to drag him out of the house, kicking and screaming like an Occupy Wall Street protestor. Just last week he told me “I want to quit school,” before he had even started. I thought about getting him an application to work at the gas station. It was a different story today. He asked me when I was going to leave his classroom. He didn’t cry. I did.