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All three of the kiddos started school last week! My oldest had been waiting all summer and was so excited to finally be a first grader.

First grader sounds so crazy to me. On one hand she is more than ready for this chapter, but on the other I’m not even ready for her to be in kindergarten yet, much less first grade!

The elementary kids start an hour before the preschoolers, but I could not pass up an opportunity for a group shot!

(How much do you love those First Day of School signs from Sugar Tot Designs?!? Don’t worry, the link to the free printables is below!)

All the cuties with their brand new backpacks!

(Note how the youngest is still smiling at this point. This only lasted until we dropped her sister off!)

The 4 year old gets to go to school everyday this year and could not be more thrilled! In FL PreK 4 is paid for by the state and all 4 year olds get to attend for 15 hours/week at no charge.

He is starting a new school this year, at a church very close to our house, and we are all so excited for him. It’s going to be a fantastic year!

This picture pretty much sums up how the littlest was feeling before we left for school. Last year, on the days her older brother went to school, she begged me to leave her too and talked about how she would say, “Bye bye Mommy! I love you! I have to go to school!” But once the one week countdown to school began she started to get a little nervous…

She told us she didn’t want to go to school anymore and that she already had enough toys and friends. We let her talk out her feelings and verbally rehearsed what would happen so she knew what to expect. We had been doing this for days–including on the day we went in to meet her new teacher. We spoke with her teacher and made a plan as to exactly how drop-off would go so that it would be as stress-free (as possible) for all.

As we talked over the events, which by now were very familiar to her, she began to relax. However, it wasn’t until we were in the car driving there that she broke into a huge smile and announced, “Ms. Corley (her teacher) loves me!” After that you could just see her confidence grow. In her smile. In her walk. In the way that she became a big kid before our very eyes.

True to her word she gave us a big smile, said I love you, and ran off to go hug her teacher and play with her new friends. And we were so thrilled for her that we didn’t even begin to cry. (Although the same cannot be said for me right now as I write this post!)

These steps to independence are our “bonuses” as parents. It’s the tangible proof that we are indeed doing our job of preparing them to go out and make their way in the world…even if all we want to do is keep them little and with us forever!

Now back to those super cute First Day of School signs! Click on the picture below to visit Sugar Tot Designs where you can download the entire Preschool-12th Grade collection.