A Walk through the kindergarten

Yep. Today was the big day. The first day of "real" school for my 5 year old. No more play clothes and no more sleeping in...for either one of us.

The day started for me about well, midnight. My daughter screamed out in her sleep as she was about to be consumed by a giant squid. "No, honey, there is no giant squid. Go back to sleep." I told her. She rolled over and went back to sleep. Three hours later she cried out again. This time it was a swarm of mosquitoes. "No, honey, there are no mosquitoes. Go back to sleep." This time her slumber lasted a half hour. This time Daddy had gone missing and we could not find him. "Honey, daddy is very asleep in our bed. He is fine. Now go back to sleep. You need to be well rested for your first day of school!" She went back to sleep after a bit more reassuring.

My slumber ended there. My alarm went off about a half hour later. I laid in bed and prayed for my daughter. I didn't know if she was anxious or just excited or maybe it was the brownie she had at 7:00p.m. before bed. Whatever it was, I was frustrated that she didn't get a good night's sleep the day before school. Regardless, I woke her about 7:00a.m. and we started our day together.

I made her and me breakfast and we talked all about her first day. Parents were able to stay for an hour to get their child situated. Thank goodness. She needed me for at least that long. (NOT!) I had ironed her uniform the night before and had already made her lunch. Her brother woke about 20 minutes before departure time. We all ate. We all brushed teeth and we all yawned as we got in the car. We hit bad traffic right away. Of course. Then daddy almost got in a wreck in front of us as we were taking 2 cars. Thank you Lord that you helped me to get out of bed and cover this day in prayer before it began!! My son cried most of the way to the school as I had not allowed him to climb into his carseat by himself. I tried to nicely explain that we have started a new "schedule" and it did not include him doing things slowly by himself. (It sounds horrible just typing that. I have adjusted the schedule tomorrow to accommodate traffic and brothers and their carseats. So that puts me waking about 4:30 a.m.)

As we arrived at the school daddy was busy snapping pictures. I think we could actually make a cartoon if we put the pictures in a pile. He snapped like every 2 seconds. I think he was a little excited and proud of his little girl! My son did not want to keep up and found several thing to play with that simply would not fit in the schedule. I tell you what, If I want to make it anywhere on time he just must be carried!

My daughter's classroom was organized chaos. All of the parents were busy labeling their child's school supplies. We were to put pencils, markers and crayons in their pencil box that the teacher labeled with their names. The rest of the supplies were piled or placed at various stations around the room. The whole time that I was working with my daughter a little boy named Samuel who sits at her table, had his mom talking at him (not to him, at him) a million miles an hour in Korean. It did not seem to bother my daughter. She was just excited to open and close her pencil box. Tears filled my eyes as we emptied all of our Target bags. All of my preparing was done. All of my coaching like, "Eat your lunch. Bring home your lunch bag. Don't talk in class. Make sure to wash your hands after you go potty" was over. I had done all that I could do and now I had to, gulp, leave.

It was time for the parents to bid adieu to their little ones. My daughter had already said goodbye to me several times before the teacher was ready to dismiss the parents. "Just a second. Mommy can stay one more minute." She was ready, I didn't have a choice. My son had been ready to leave the second we got to the school. "I want to go home," was all that I heard besides all of the Korean that I could not understand. My head was spinning. My mind was racing and I had to leave my precious gem in classroom with 12 little boys and 5 other girls. I cried a bit on the way to the car until my son looked at me and said, "It is just me and you and daddy." I think he was just as excited about my daughter going to school as she was.

It has been eerie in my house today. It was so quiet I had to turn on the tv. My daughter is definitely the life of my every day party. My son and I enjoyed a quiet lunch and played together just the two of us. I got a lot done around my house. Boy, what a change.

I don't have a scripture today, just a principle. The only way that I was able to relax today is knowing that I had prayed and committed my daughter to the Lord today. He was in control. He is watching her. He is sustaining her. I felt more burdened than ever before to pray for my kids. I can't waste any time. Prayer for our families is so important, and not just when they are getting ready to start school. I need to be praying for my children daily. Every day! The same should be true for my spouse! I was just overwhelmed with the responsibility that I have as a mom and a wife to keep my family covered in prayer.

I had some warriors praying for me today as I took a big step into a new season. Thanks for your prayers! Prayer works. I want to see a worn spot on my carpet from my consistent prayer life! Help me Lord. Help me to maintain consistency in my prayers. Not because I have to, but because I desperately need to!