First of many starting school blog posts.

Tonight was it. It's almost official. Thomas is a kindergartner.

It was back to school night at his elementary school. We went to see his classroom and meet his teacher. He was so excited and a little nervous. I asked him how he felt and he answered, "I'm just afraid I won't have friends." It about broke my heart. Of course he will have friends, he has plenty of kids from our ward in his class. But then the panic set in. What if...? What if my kid is socially awkward? What if I haven't prepared him for the real world? What if he talks too much in class? What am I going to do if I ever get a call from a the teacher saying that he took someones lunch money? What if he empties all the paper towels in the bathroom and leaves them in a messy pile on the floor? All these scenarios went through my mind as I stood in the classroom and pretended to be okay with everything. I thought it would help that I had a former teaching career that lasted 6 years. I know what happens in classrooms. It didn't help.

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Now I need to suck it up. He'll be fantastic. I'll be fine. We'll all be okay.

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I guess I should mention that he had a great time. He loved his classroom. He had a huge smile on his face when he met his teacher. When he saw the computers I think he did the dance of joy - especially since they had headphones! She also had a pet frog, a fish, and a big fake tooth cut in half that Thomas held up to his mouth several times. What more can you ask for?

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Before the event, I took him to Fresh and Easy and let him pick out flowers for his teacher. I was surprised that he picked red roses, but what can you do? It probably looked like we were teaching him to be a suck-up, but that was not the case. I have been in those teacher shoes! I know what it's like to work tons of hours getting the classroom set up. The money they spend out of their own pocket to provide the extras that are necessary. I know how their feet are aching and how they are counting down the hours until they can get home and climb into bed. They all deserve a special Thank You for the hard work they have endured this past week.

(I'll climb off my soapbox. But seriously - buy your kids' teachers some flowers or pick some from your garden and wrap them in wet paper towel and tinfoil. Teach your kids to tell them Thank you! Now, I'll really climb off.)

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After the meet-and-greet Thomas requested we go out for Pizza. We had a little party and celebrated his (and lets face it, my) milestone.