And then there were two
Facebook’s been flooded with adorable pictures of kids smiling sweetly before dashing out the door to their first day of school. I wish I could show you one of those pictures. But instead, I have this photo…
…of Addy’s teacher basically having to drag her into the building.
Or this photo…
…when Addy, who refused to let me take posed pictures of her, arrived at school and her smile turned to an “Oh-crap-I-have-to-go-in-there” look of fear.
She tried really really hard to prevent herself from entering the front doors, clutching me, refusing to put her back pack on, digging her feet into the ground, etc…but she went in. I stayed dry-eyed, only because I was so distracted by getting her to put one foot in front of the other and move. Crosby, on the other hand, was a mess, crying as he watched his sister being hauled away against her will. It was heart wrenching.
But she came out smiling, as I knew she would.
The second day was almost as bad. Addy was exhausted and I couldn’t get her up. I literally got her dressed and physically moved her to a different room without her waking up.
There were lots of tears, but only because by the time we got to school, she was finally alert enough to realize what I had dressed her in and she didn’t like it.
However, the third day’s a charm, because this morning went smoothly. She was still super tired, but she lined up with her classmates with only minimal hesitation and didn’t look back at me once.
We miss her. It seems like such a long time that she’s gone. But, it is so much less stressful when there’s only one child to care for and keep happy. No fighting or persuading one to do what the other wants. I even got to sit down and read a magazine for 5 minutes while Crosby played by himself. And look! I am updating my blog! Crosby starts preschool for 4 hours/week soon. Life will feel so luxurious!
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