Russell’s first day of school…

It was nerve-wracking!!! A bunch of questions pounded my mind like a jackhammer on a hard cement road.

> will he like his teacher?

> will he like his classmates?

> will he listen to instructions and participate?

> will he finish the summer school with a smile on his face?

Tuesday

- 8:30am… Ronald woke me up and reminded me that it was Russell’s first day in summer school.

- 8:40am... I ate 2 pieces of bread and drank a glass of milk before going to the bathroom for a short shower

- 9:00am.. Russell took a bath with the help of his yaya while I placed a pencil case with 2 pencils and a towel inside Russell’s little bag.

- 9:45am.. We’re both ready for school, Russell kissed his dad and waved to everyone goodbye.

- 9:55am.. I realized that I forgot Russell’s requirements at home, so I called Ronald and requested him to bring the papers to school.

- 10:00am.. We were greeted by the teacher by the door, upon seeing his new classmate, Russell completely forgot about me. He sat on a chair and started to chat with his classmate, I called his attention and said goodbye confidently.

- 10:10am.. I met my mother-in-law on the first floor of the building because she was the one who brought Russell’s papers to me. She was happy to know that Russell did not cry when it was time for me to leave him in school.

- 10:20am.. I went to the grocery store to buy a snack for Russell. I felt silly for assuming that they don’t have a snack time in school.

- 10:30am.. I grabbed a snack for myself while waiting for a few minutes until I go back to school and give Russell him snack.

- 11:00am.. I can’t wait any longer, I need to see my son, and I need to see if he’s doing alright in school. I went up the building, knocked on the door and handed the teacher his snack. I sneaked a glance on my son seriously solving a puzzle and he waved when he saw me.

I eventually went back home and waited until it is time for me to fetch Russell from school.

It’s 12:30pm, the kids started heading out of the school. I looked for my baby, and he proudly shouted “Mommy!”, he gave me a warm hug and the teacher gave me his assignment notebook. I asked him if he had fun and he said “Yeah”.

Whew…. I breathed a sigh of relief.

Wednesday

After school, Russell is singing something that I can’t understand. His words are still mumbled but I can see in his face that he is happy while singing the song. I applauded with such pride that my boy is growing up. They do not have an assignment that day so he played all afternoon and went to bed early (as usual).

Thursday

He greeted me at the school’s door showing me his arm. He have a smiley face stamped on his hand. I asked his teacher what the stamp is for and she told me that it was for the time that Russell recited in class. I was like, “Really?! That’s so great!”. I treated Russell for a simple snack on the way home. I tried to persuade Russell into doing his assignment but he did not like the first one, it was full of lines that he have to trace. He liked the second one because there are pictures that he’ll have to connect with a line.

Friday

School is cancelled because of the power outage.

Russell is growing up so fast, most of times he doesn't seem to need me anymore and I admit that I miss the days when he would need me for everything. Now he can go to the bathroom on his own, get his own water from the dispenser, sleep on his own, play for hours with friends without looking for me. According to him he's a big boy now and I agree but in my heart he will always be my baby.