First First Day

Before I say anything else I have to thank you guys for all the support you offered after I posted my back-to-school worries. It is one of the handful of times (others - parties/holidays!) that I get really on the verge of panic over the food allergy situation. I know that I'm not a big target in the bloggy world - but you should see the kinds of comments that often pop up on allergy articles/blogs. Let's just say many of them are less than supportive. It means more than I can say that all I got was care and concern from my lovely webby friends.

I don't know that many of them read here, but I also have to say that the parents of Harper's friends have stepped up in a HUGE way this week so that she had someone (or two someones!) to sit with every day (at her peanut free table). The whole, "It takes a village," thing has never felt so true.

Harper herself was a complete wreck on Monday, the day before school. She was whiny and weepy and cycled from thinking first grade would be awesome to first grade would be awful about 368 times throughout the day. By lunch time I was hearing the siren song of boarding school. Because it (fortunately) doesn't happen too often, I kind of forget that this is how my dear girl works out her anxiety.

Are you surprised that everything has actually gone really, really well? :-)

All summer long I heard Harper say she didn't want to go to first grade because she loved kindergarten so much and didn't want to leave it. I had a hunch it would only take about five minutes in first grade for that feeling to dissipate and I was correct.

Harper, so far, is very chatty and forthcoming about her school day - especially if I don't press her about it all at once. She will wander in and out of the kitchen, dropping details like breadcrumbs, as I get dinner ready or do some cleaning up - I love it. And I LOVE what I'm hearing about what they are doing in school - I think she was placed with a great teacher for her personality and I hope Mrs. B is enjoying Harper even half as much as Harper is enjoying her!

We are so lucky.

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File this under a problem I never thought I'd have...
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Harper has suddenly decided that she loves reading more than TV (which is a huge turn-around, that child was TV obsessed by the time she was 18 mos. old). This, of course, is not a bad development but it comes with some unexpected (for me) issues. The primary one being that she keeps disappearing into her room in the morning  to "get ready" or going down the hall to brush her teeth, then, when I check on her, she is just sitting on her couch and reading instead of whatever task I sent her to do!

I have actually contemplated whether we're going to need a, "No Reading Before School," rule, to go with the, "No TV Before School," rule - how crazy is that?