I definitely cried when the bus drove away in the morning and was overcome with a feeling of being irresponsible-is it really right to put a 5 year old on a bus and walk away? It felt so wrong! In a brief moment of panic I stopped Chris on the walk back to our house and said "We just put a little 5 year old on a bus! Is that ok?? Is this really allowed?"
Thankfully the day passed quickly with attending my brother-in-law's dad's funeral and stocking up for the hurricane at Costco but I was ANXIOUSLY waiting for the bus in the afternoon. I looked at the clock every 5 minutes for well over an hour and every time I heard a noise outside I ran to the window to see if it was her bus. Then I ended up standing outside for 20 minutes at the bus stop because I didn't want to miss it! I was SO relieved to see her smiling and walking off the bus. She had a great first day and can't wait to go back next Tuesday.
The worst moment of the day was probably when I was in Costco and my phone rang with Ella's school on the called ID. My heart stopped as my brain simultaneously went into counselor mode (a soothing voice saying "choose to be calm, everything will be fine, deep breaths, accept things as they come...") and freaked out mom mode (high pitched fast fast voice scrolling through all the horrific possibilities of what could have happened to Ella). So I pick up the phone and....it's a robocall saying there's a hurricane coming. Great. Thanks.
I still feel like there are a lot of unknowns but excited for that "first day" hurdle to be over and to see what this new season will bring! Go Ella go!!
