AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!

Caralie was one lucky duck yesterday. First she escaped the jaws of death when the Immunization Clinic verified that she indeed DID NOT need another shot of Hep B vaccine. So there, Health Office! Second, I got a call from the PTA that we won a raffle and that Caralie is the proud new owner of a girl's backpack. Boo-yah! At this rate, maybe I should play the lottery...

Last night Caralie did her very first homework assignment. At Meet the Teacher, Mrs. Haynie gave her a blank "T-shirt" to draw something fun from her summer. Caralie chose to draw a picture of herself at the Cabbage Patch Hospital in Cleveland, GA:


We put it in her backpack and when she gets to school, her shirt will be added to the classroom's clothesline.

By the way, on the way home from the clinic, Caralie informed me, "Tomorrow I'm going to be a big girl because I'm going to kindergarten. I want you to know that I'm going to call you Mom now instead of Mommy."

**THE END OF ALL LOGIC AND REASON.**

WAAAHHHH!!! MY BABY WENT TO KINDERGARTEN TODAY!!! I'M AN EMPTY NESTER!!! SHE WAS JUST BORN, LIKE, YESTERDAY!!! HOW CAN THIS HAPPEN TO ME??? HOW WILL I SURVIVE??? MY LIFE IS OVER!!! WAAAHHHH!!!

This is the part where my husband rolls his eyes and my mother laughs.

I'm actually staying rather calm, believe it or not. I haven't started crying yet, but I have the sneaking suspicion that tears will fall before the school day is over. Anyway, here are Caralie's First Day of School photos:







And here are my First Day of School photos:




You will notice that the primary difference between her photos and mine are that mine are close-ups while hers are mostly body shots.

And if you believe that I have some real estate in Florida you might be interested in.

This morning started around 4 AM when Caralie came into our bedroom and announced that she couldn't sleep. I let her sleep on the floor next to me. By the time the alarm went off at 7 AM, she no longer had trouble sleeping but had trouble waking up. So we left the house 5 minutes later than I wanted.

This seemingly insignificant amount of time was just enough to throw off my beautiful vision of sending my daughter to kindergarten. I was supposed to give her a big kiss and hug and send her to stand with her class by the playground. I would have time to take more pictures and even some video. Then her class would go inside and as she marched by, Caralie would blow me a kiss and give a little wave and my heart would curl up and die.

Instead we had to hurry across the crosswalk, navigate our way through a huge crowd of parents only to discover that Caralie's class was already walking in the door and she had to hurry up to meet them. I didn't even have time enough to bend down for her to kiss me on the lips. Instead she kissed me on the boob. Then she ran to the end of the line and walked in the door without ever looking back:


I couldn't believe it was over so quickly and ingloriously. No beautiful, soft-focus moment. I am quite disappointed.

And sitting here, I find myself wondering what she is doing right now. Is she scared or nervous? Is she having fun? Is she making friends?

Being a parent is great and sucks at the same time.