J's first day - H

It was J's first day at daycare/preschool. I packed her lunch, a pb&j sandwich with a little heart carved out of the top slice, some sharlin melon, milk, and fruit leather. When E saw the hole in the bread, he asked, "Why is there a hole in the bread?" He didn't notice it was heart shaped. I assembled the sandwich, and he asked if I was going to be okay. To be honest, I was a little misty-eyed, packing her lunch and getting ready to send her off. I packed her little backpack, and when we got there, she even carried it in on her back like a little school girl. Then she jumped right in when she got there after we took a couple of pictures to mark this momentous occasion.

I wasn't that nervous about her being okay being there w/o us. She'd been getting increasingly bored with just me at home and visibly more interested in playing with other kids, so it made me think she'd appreciate this change. They said she was fine and participated; she didn't cry. It was probably harder for me than for her. This is probably the first time I have had to let her go in a significant way, where we put her in the care of people we don't know very well. I appreciate the help this offers me, and I'm pretty sure I'll need it when #2 arrives, but this is a small way in which my baby is stepping forward and taking some bigger steps toward independence and flying the coop in 16 years' time and me stepping back a little and giving her space to grow. This might sound a bit over-the-top or dramatic, I guess. Ah, well. She's my first.