the 1st of 1st

Sunshine started 1st Grade this week. It's absolutely horrendous how fast kids grow up these days. I remember when I was young, being a kid lasted forever. Nowadays, they jump from fat, roll-ey babes in arms to long-legged readers in a heartbeat. Truly tragic.


Sunshine loves her class, which meets in the same room as her Kindergarten class last year! What luck! The district built a campus for all of the PreK students and so the Kinder moved into their rooms and 1st moved into Kinder. All very exciting. Out of the seven First Grade options she had, it was crazy that she got it. We were really glad for her to have that room back. First of all, Sunshine is kinda flighty and we imagined her wandering into that room on autopilot anyways. And secondly, she had a great experience in that room last year and we thought the positive aura would be good for her.


Also, exciting news - she has her own desk this year! No more group tables, but now she has her own personal desk grouped together with her "table" friends. What independence!!!!


Sunshine loves her teacher, who has been teaching for 13 years and has three little girls. At Back to School Night, we gave her a beautiful caramel apple that Papa picked up from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. It's important to start kissing up from the start. Take it from a former teacher. You forgive a lot in a child when their parents are nice. Kiss up before there is a problem.


Sunshine loves her friends that she missed all summer and is glad to be in a class with a few kids from last year again. But she's also glad to have so many new friends that she knew from C.A.M.P. in her class now. We think she got the jackpot class. None of the snotties from the rich part of town are in her class, but all of us on the PTA Board ended up with kids in this class. Also, all of the teachers with kids in 1st Grade are also in Sunshine's class. I think that's a good sign, right?


After one day of school, I asked her how she liked it and she said, "It was nice, Mom. But tomorrow, I don't want to stay as long, okay?" Ya, sure. She was really nervous when I left her that morning, so I asked, "Did you cry when Mommy left?" She said, "Yes, but just inside so that no one would get worried." Poor Sunshine, trying to keep it together for the rest of us. She's so sweet.


After one night of homework (cutting pictures out of a magazine of things she liked), she said, "Mom, I work all day at school. I don't need to work at home, too. I'm going to go play." Ya, sure.


After one week of school, I asked her what three things she liked best and she said, "Recess, the big treasure chest under Mrs. M's desk, and lunchtime." So she's normal!