1st grade

** July 27, 2015 **

Monday, July 27th was Madden's first day of school.

He's in 1st grade this year and attending a new school.

I stressed major over the decision of which school to send him to...

The school right by our new house is a Traditional Academy, which uses a completely different (and more rigorous) curriculum than the school he was at last year.

I was nervous that it wouldn't be a good fit for Madden and would make for a more difficult transition, so I ended up sending him to the next school over, Chaparral Elementary, which is much more like the school he was at last year.

Randy and I and Beckett were all there to drop him off on his first day, and all was going smoothly...until the very last second, when Madden was all lined up and ready to go with his class and I turned to walk away and he burst into tears and yelled out, "Mom!"

And my heart literally broke in two.

I comforted him a little and walked by him until he got to his classroom, but I was a nervous wreck for the rest of the day.

When I picked him up at the end of the day, his eyes were red and puffy, like he had been crying again.

He told me that he did cry a few times that day.

So we went out for Thrifty's ice cream and arcade games after school to cheer him up...

The next few days were a pretty similar story...

Every morning, when it was time to go, his chin would start to quiver and he'd tell me that his stomach hurts and he didn't want to go and that he didn't like his new school.

By the end of the first week, I was really worried...and wondering when things were gonna get easier.

When I would drop him off in the mornings, he wouldn't go play on the playground with the other kids, he'd just stand in his classroom line with his backpack still on, all by himself, waiting for the bell to ring.

It broke my heart!

I think he has a great teacher, and I think the school will be a good fit for him...I think the problem was just feeling like he didn't know anyone and didn't have any friends.

Its hard being the only kid in your class who doesn't know any one when ALL your classmates all know each other and went to kindergarten together.

And Madden is already so shy!

Part of me just wanted to take him back to his old school, where he had friends and was comfortable and knew his way around.

Its hard to make your kids do hard things...

But I know that these are just life lessons he needs to learn and they will be good, growing experiences for him in the long run.

As for Beck, he's been enjoying his alone time he gets with his mama all day long...

But he sure is excited to see his big brother every day when he gets home from school...