Tuesday, August 23, 2011

First Grade

 I hardly slept all night I got myself so anxious about Samuel today! He fared much better than I did:)
I could tell he was nervous but we prepared with a special breakfast and a couple of special things for him to carry in his pocket. One is a laminated wallet sized picture of our family with some special things written on the back to comfort him. The other is a small round rock with the words "I love (heart) U" on it for him to reach down and hold as a visible reminder that I love him so much and am thinking about him and praying for him.


 As we were rushing out the door forgetting supplies, grabbing the stroller from the car and comforting a very miserable little sister, Samuel found a dollar bill lying on the ground and that brought a big smile to his face:)
 We took our 10 minute walk to school and found the 1st grade line! There are 3 different first grade classes and Samuel's is with a very sweet grandma-ish lady who has been teaching first grade for many years. You could tell she is much loved from the constant hugs she got from former students!
 She made her way down the line meeting her students and asking them questions. Samuel was SO scared, I could see it in his face. I kept reminding him that he was so brave, I was so proud of him and he had his special picture and rock to look at if he felt scared. His teacher finally got to him and he wouldn't even look at her! I had to tell her his name and she was so gentle with him, asking him if he liked to read and if he liked recess. He finally nodded and she assured him that he was in the right place then!

She also assured him that all the other kids were nervous, too because it was everyone's very first day. I liked her immediately and can tell they will get along famously!
School was only 1 1/2 hours today, just long enough for kids to turn in supplies, meet their teachers, etc. Z, E and I hung out on the playground where they were serving donuts and coffee. I met some really nice moms of kids in S's class!

And then the rain rolled in right as the kids were scheduled to come out. We crowded in with all the other hordes of parents and waited for our newly minted First Graders to come out. I finally was able to make it to Samuel who greeted me with a shy yet happy smile on his face! His teacher told me over his head that he did GREAT today and opened up a little bit. His face did look more relaxed and when we started to walk away and I gave him a big hug and he said in the sweetest voice, "Mommy, I loved it!"

He beamed all the way through our rainy walk home! I can't even express how happy I am that prayers for a wonderful teacher were answered, nice friends for him to make and a good first day to start the year off well!

4 comments:

Grandma W said...

Answers to many prayers for Samuel. Thank you, Lord, for your faithfulness. Samuel, I am sooooo very proud of you! I knew you would have a good day - and am looking forward to hearing many good things about this year. I love you.

grandma said...

So tickled he has a Grandma type teacher. And she was so nice. That was our prayer. It is going to be a wonderful year for him. Thank you Lord for taking care of dear Samuel and all of the Thomases. We love you all.

Charity said...

So happy to hear the good report!

Emily S. said...

Yea! I'm glad day 1 went well! I love that you sent him with little tokens in his pockets-how sweet! And that's great you got to meet some other moms- always helpful and good to chat with others in your shoes!

Followers