There's no turning back the clock...

...Whether I like it or not, Russell is getting older. I know Randall is, too, but Russell is now officially going to kindergarden on Monday. I hate to sound like every mother of a kindergardener, but where did the years go?!

We got the letter today saying that our request to transfer Russ to Bramlette was accepted. Whoo hoo! We even found out in time to register and go to "Back to School" night tonight. Like I've said before, I know 3 of the 4 kindergarden teachers and those 3 all say that the 4th is awesome, so I was okay with him getting any of them.

Two of them go to our church and are in our small group, too. But, I didn't want to have to choose between them. I like both of them! They both have such sweet personalities. So, I wasn't going to ask for anyone in particular. But, then I asked Russell what he thought about having Ms. Alison or Ms. Janette for a teacher and he said he would like Ms. Alison. We haven't seen Janette much this summer, so I think Alison came to mind first. So, I decided to go ahead and see if we could request her. I called and asked if it was too late to put in a request for a specific teacher and the secretary said that they had already placed Russell. She said she could tell me who he was placed with and see if I was okay with it. So, she checked her list and it was Alison! Yay! (I would have been just as happy with Janette, too, though.)

So, tonight, we had a nacho dinner in the cafeteria and got to see Ms. Alison's classroom. Russell will have to train himself to call her by her last name instead of her first name. :-)

We noticed when we were leaving that there will be a Darion, a Davian, a Toyvarian and a Le'Darrian. I'm sure I spelled some of those incorrectly, but they were all four so close in spelling and pronounciation. Alison will have to find creative ways to remember spellings and such.

After we filled out the papers we needed to, we got ready to leave and Randall asked, "Why is Russell coming home with us?" He thought this would be Russell's first day of kindergarden. He prayed for our dinner and he said, "Thank you that we got to go to kinder... um, Bramlette and eat lunch." I think he's in awe of all the happenings as we've gotten ready to send Russ to school. I wonder how he'll adjust to Russ being gone so much... I wonder how I'll adjust to Russ being gone so much...

It's bittersweet, I guess. Right now, it's a lot of "SWEET!" (said like Dash--from The Incredibles) to think that I'll have all day with just one kiddo to take care of. No arguing and pinching and hitting and yelling (as long as I behave myself *grin*).

But, on Monday, when I take my little guy in to his class and leave him in the hands of someone else, I think I'll experience the "bitter" part of "bittersweet". It's a little scary thinking that someone else will be responsible for making sure Russ obeys and follows the rules, that others are kind to him and that he learns all he is supposed to learn. I think the hardest part of sending him to school (verses homeschooling), is that I won't be there to protect him should someone else be unkind. I suppose I wouldn't be there all the time even if we were homeschooling because I'm sure we'd join the homeschooling group. But, this is 5 days a week.

Russell did great in pre-school and it was a wonderful experience for him. He did have some tough times and it made me sad to hear him relay some of what he had experienced, but at the same time, it was a good growing time for him. He learned how to interact with a difficult kid in his class (who later became one of his best friends), he learned how to sympathize with other kids who were getting teased, he learned how to take directions from adults other than his parents. He benefitted greatly, socially, in pre-school and I think kindergarden will be a good experience, too.

I have so many prayers swirling in my head (worries that I know I need to turn into prayers). But, I am thankful that Russ will have a teacher that knows him and loves him, even if it's not the same as me being there. It's the next best thing!

I have the paper all picked out to scrapbook his first day of school. :-) Priorities, right? :-)