Sarah Jane's first day of first grade

 Sarah Jane started first grade today.  First we had our annual photo shoot.  She was pretty goofy in the pictures by herself.  Her smile was much more genuine after she got all the other kids to join her.

On the way up to school the fun of her new outfit wore off and she got pretty quite.  By the time we got to playground she was gripping my hand and I was having flashbacks to Kindergarten trauma.

Despite having several wonderful friends in her class (including Sophie, phew!) she was pretty shut down as we waited for the bell to ring.  She has Ms. Rosen this year who I've heard is absolutely amazing.  (Whoohoo!)  When the bell finally rang, Ms. Rosen took one look at Sarah Jane (who was in tears at that point) took her hand and marched off to the classroom with Sarah Jane leading the line.  By the time we got from the basketball courts to the door, she assigned Sarah Jane the job of holding open the door which of course made Sarah Jane feel very important and she was ready to let go of the hand and proudly hold the door open and then fall in at the back of the line.  Total magic. 

The parents weren’t sure if we were supposed to follow along so we all sort of meandered after their line and up the stairs to room 207 where we hovered outside the door.  Ms. Rosen looked out and told us we "all looked sad standing out there, so come on in!"  So in we all shuffled.  She had the kids sit on the rug, then she blew a soft whistle and they all moved to the outside of the rug on queue and then they all introduced themselves (Ms. Rosen started) passing around a rock and then she announced that the parents would leave, so we all did!  It was all extremely organized!!! DOUBLE PHEW!!!