Molli's growing up!

We've reached a milestone.  Molli is officially in all-day kindergarten at public school.  We've been part of a sweet little private school family for the past couple years and have grown very attached, so it was a big deal to send her off to her new school.  Where there are FOUR kindergarten classes.  Where she will be all day.  Where she will eat lunch. Where she will make new friends whose families are strangers to me. Where I can't just text her teacher and check on her if I feel like it.  It's a little bit of a doozy as a mom to absorb all these changes! I'm not one to breakdown crying about things like this, and I haven't cried, rather I've been floating somewhere between mourning and accepting the passing of her earliest childhood and placing one foot in front of the other as we venture into the great unknown of being a school-kid. I'm still embracing the little kid in her too as I'm still not correcting some of the weird little kid things she says.  Her teacher will be so confused the first time she tells her her nose is "hogged" (clogged, but it's hogged to her!) or any number of little Molli-isms that are worth it to me to keep around for a bit longer!

The Friday before school started Molli went camping with her brother, dad and some family friends.  It was a great time for them, although as I was at home with Baylor I couldn't help but worry about them because, you know, I'm Mom.  More specifically I'm Erin. My little rule breaker couldn't even handle the one rule I set for her for that weekend.  I NEEDED her to stay little for a bit longer and she decided to go on ahead and grow up without me! And by that I mean she chomped into a s'more and her wiggly tooth came out. She didn't realize it at first and spit it out without thinking much of it. Good thing my friend was there!  She's also a mom and knew that the little tooth (which, once upon a time, my baby painstakingly cut through her sweet gums!) needed to be rescued.  It took a team and some flashlights, but the camping gods or the tooth fairy or someone had mercy and it was found! Alas, my baby girl became a big kindergartner with a missing tooth all at once. I'm embracing the hole in the smile though because those big permanent teeth don't have room in there!

So wiggly-- eew!

Translation: The tooth is hidden in an owl. Bring it to mom's room. Back door.

What it means: I made her an owl shaped tooth fairy pillow to put her lost teeth in that hangs on the back of the door.  Thus, the tooth is hidden in an owl.  Back door.  She wanted the tooth fairy to give me the tooth and not take it away.

Reward for a lost tooth!

This big girl has been embracing these new grown up things and is adapting very well.  It sounds like she is making friends at school and is enjoying it so far.  She's gotten up every morning on her own at 6:30 (well, with her alarm clock) and hasn't complained once.  She's even going to bed at night without issue so lets give a big shout out to full day kindergarten for making a dent in a life-long area of struggle!  In the mornings her clock changes from blue to yellow and plays the music to "If You're Happy and You Know It" and I know she wakes up to it because I hear her shout "AMEN!" most mornings at that part of the song.  It's adorable (and saves me a trip to her room to make sure she's up).

We've left on time for school everyday so far, even in time to go out for recess before school (which she loves). On the first day of school I began doing a short devotion with the kids in the morning. We leave for school early and do it in the parking lot.  This ensures a few things 1) We get a parking spot 2) we start our day with our hearts and mind in a wholesome place 3) we don't part ways in a rush.  All of these things have been good for us, I think.  It's nice doing it in the car too because most of the time the kids are still buckled and sitting down so there's not a ton of distractions.

All in all, I think things are going very well.  She's still my princess monkey bottom, and doesn't mind that I still need her to be little sometimes.  When I tuck her in at night she asks me to turn on her ballet music (classical) even though she is fully capable and always requests that I snuggle with her and hang out a while.  I oblige as often as I can, knowing that it's precious time with her and that she won't ask for that forever.  I love her so much and I'm very proud of the person she is becoming!