Tuesday, April 23, 2013

First Day Of School...Munni Style!!!!

Monday was Munni's first day of school!!  After she found out that the teachers in the US don't slap children across the face, she was excited to go. That was a cultural difference that I wasn't prepared for, especially since I'm a teacher!  Then we went to buy her uniform and I'm learning that I shouldn't tell her we are going to do something until we are doing it because I heard about 10,000 times, "Mom, uniform?"  She danced and hugged the bag when we finally purchased it - a day later.

When I woke her up Monday morning, she sat right up and said, "Mom, school!"  She was very, very excited!
My heart is breaking as I take this! Sooobbbbb :(

We walked the 10 minute walk to school holding hands.  We prayed for her day and I told her that Jesus was going to be with her all day.  Then I asked her if she knew where Jesus was and she smiled at me and pointed to her heart.  I LOVE THIS GIRL!

We got to her school and into her classroom and her teacher made her cubby for her.  I love, love, love her teacher.  She suggested that we come into the classroom ON SUNDAY so that Munni could have some one-on-one time with her and get to know the classroom set up.  I am a teacher and I can honestly say that I would never suggest to meet a family on a Sunday.  I'm just being honest :)  Her teacher absolutely loves her students and it radiates from her!

Her little cubby at school:
 I gave her a hug and a kiss and left in her the care of her teacher.  As I walked out of the room, I'm pretty sure I felt some heartstrings snapping.  Thankfully I had my sunglasses on and I cried the whole way home.  One of the sad parts of adopting an older child is that everything seems to be on fast forward.  It's painful to know you missed out on the early years and selfishly, I wanted to keep Munni all to myself :)  But I know that she was ready for school and I always want to do what is best for her.

I got to my house and had about 4 cups of coffee and may or may not have watched her Gotcha Day video 5 times.  I still can't believe how much she's changed in terms of really coming into her own.

After school, Munni went to her after school program.  I am still off work this week and I wanted her to experience all her new transitions while I could readily come to the rescue if needed :)  When I got to the Community Center, Munni was upstairs in a different group.  The young gentleman told me that she was crying.  Uh oh.  I ran upstairs and found her room.  She was sitting with kids her age and the environment was much more calm.  They must have been talking about American Indians because they all had feathers taped to their foreheads.  As soon as she saw me, she lit up!  I waived her to come to me and she gave me the biggest hug :)  We got to the car and she was non-stop talker!  I asked her if she cried and she said yes because she missed me.  I told her that I cried too because I missed her.  I told her that Simon and Rollie and Lola were looking everywhere for her at the house.  She laughed when I told her that.  She showed me everything in her backpack, showed me what she didn't eat from her lunch bag (ho ho's  What the heck?  Those were my favorite when I was her age!) told me about the "pizza song" and "bird song" they sang, all about the playground and the big slides and on and on.  She clearly had a great day at school.
When we got home, she had to change for her soccer practice.  I was helping her get her uniform together and that's when I saw it.  She took off her pants and guess what?  She was going Commando.  What??  I asked her where her underwear was and she just laughed at me.  I asked her if she had an accident at school and she got really frustrated, "No mom, promise!"  I asked what happened and she told me she forgot to put them on!  In the morning, I had laid out her uniform and was going back and forth between her bedroom and the kitchen.  I never saw that she didn't have any on!  She was SO excited to put on that uniform and go to school that she forgot the basic layer :)  She kept saying, "Silly me!" I couldn't stop laughing.

Today she awoke with the same enthusiasm for school only this time, I made sure she wore her underwear :)

11 comments:

  1. What a great first day! I'm so glad it went well...even commando!

    julie

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  2. Started reading this post with tears and ended with laughter!! You didn't disappoint. So happy that she had a great first day. :) XOXO

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  3. Oh, this cracks me up!!! I LOVE being a mom...tough stuff and all...those little moments make it all worth it!! Thanks for sharing!

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  4. Oh my! You had me laughing out loud (literally) at work! Made my day..Love that she adjusted to school so nicely and quickly. I've been following your blog for some time now and really enjoy all the wonderful insight you provide! I hope to be travelling this summer to pick up our little girl : ) Mira

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    1. Mira that is SOOOO exciting!!!!!! Where in Ind*a is your daughter ?

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  5. Oh my goodness - what a first day! (And I SO didn't see her forgetting her underlovelies coming at the end! That is a riot!) Glad she's so excited and that it sounds like she's got a great teacher!! It's so fun to hear little bits of her sense of humor coming out in your posts, too!

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  6. That is too cute! So happy for her!

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  7. That is a lot of newness for both of you to take in -- and I love the different ways you made it easier for her. And her enthusiasm (not to mention the underwear thing!) is so sweet and fun to see.
    Nancy

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  8. I really had to laugh about your post. Munni seems so sweet and I love to read about her. What a funny girl, she seems to have a lot of humour.
    I am very happy she has a lovely teacher. This is so important.

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