And Away we Go!

It was the morning that we had all been waiting for, and dreading for almost a year.  The morning that I would have to send Kara on a bus for her first day of kindergarten. 

Being the 2nd child, I didn't think it would be as emotionally difficult for me to put my baby on a school bus.  It couldn't be nearly as gut-wrenching as it was with Jenna, right?  My biggest fear was Kara herself.  There has never been one day in her life or one situation where you could accurately "predict" how Kara was going to react.  All I knew for certain was that this was the girl that cried when I dropped her off for preschool ... for about 5 months straight. 

Today was no different.  Oh, she didn't cry.  Or fuss.  Or whine.  She was nothing but excited, giggly, happy and anxious to get outside and ride the bus.  Totally unexpected.  Unpredictable.  She had her backpack on 20 minutes early, and was out at the bus stop with her neighborhood friends.

She posed for pictures with grandma, and took a special shot for daddy, since he couldn't be here this morning to see her off on her first day.

When the bus finally turned the corner and came into view, mommy gulped and took a deep breath.  She gave kisses to both of her girls, did our special "pinky promise" with each one, gave them each an "extra" kiss to take to school with them in their hands, and just watched as Jenna took her little sister's hand and led her onto the bus for her first day of kindergarten.  She didn't even look back.

Kara waved and smiled as the bus pulled away.  And mommy felt that same familiar wrench in her stomach that she felt 2 years ago when she watched her oldest baby pull away from the house for the first time.