How did it go?

Ah, the big day. The first day of Kindergarten. It's a moment in everyone's childhood that symbolizes growing up.

And Ellie missed it.

Yep, you heard me right. Ellie's first day of Kindergarten and we were on vacation. Her mommy and daddy really need to change the way we view vacation and when we can take it. Suddenly we're in a world where we can't just pick up and leave whenever we want. It's going to affect Ellie's education. Strange.

Alas, it's not that big of a deal. She missed two days of Kindergarten so her first day was the following Monday. She was so excited to be a Grizzly Bear.

Here's the rundown on the Kindergarten decision:

- Private Kindergarten is CHEAPER than public Kindergarten so she is still at the same preschool she was at before. What? We have to pay for PUBLIC Kindergarten? Well, technically that's free, but that just gets you to lunch. Then you have to pay or provide lunch. Then you pay for the second half of Kindergarten, which gets you to 2:30. Then you have to pay for after school care to get you to 5:00 or 6:00 (we're working parents, remember?). Crazy.

- Private Kindergarten has better parent/student ratios (9 students per teacher instead of 25 for public).

- Private Kindergarten takes weekly field trips to the Library and monthly (or every two months) field trips to other "real life" places like the farm, super market, etc.

- With the Private Kindergarten located in the same preschool (she's a Grizzly Bear now instead of a Black Bear, for those of you keeping track), it's far more convenient. Addie is still in preschool (she just recently moved into the Polar Bear room). From a logistics standpoint, it was a no-brainer.

So... The downside to this decision is that Ellie was quite disappointed that she didn't get to ride the bus to school like many of her other friends would.

She's also disappointed that she's not in Kindergarten with Michael like we originally thought she would be. She's concerned he's going to find another girl who he will want to marry instead of waiting for her when 1st grade begins.

She's disappointed that she won't meet a bunch of NEW friends.

But there are lots of upsides too... She still gets to see her best friend Brynn in the afternoons.

She is in the room right next door to Addie's room and gets to give her sister hugs many times through out the day. She excitedly tells me "Mommy, I was SOOO lucky today because I got to hug Addie FIVE times!!!"

Likewise, she still has Stretch and Grow and Spanish classes, BOTH of which Addie participates in with her. They LOVE it. Ellie loves being the big sister and Addie gets a kick out of doing something she knows the big kids get to do.

Regardless, I know she's doing ok. Every day when I pick her up she is super excited to tell me about what she learned that day. And she's learning a lot. She's so mature. So brave. So excited. I asked her what her favorite thing about in Kindergarten is and without hesitation she said "I really like to learn every day!"

So her first day of Kindergarten wasn't the typical "big change" that one would expect. No, for us, that's going to be the first day of 1st grade. I'll be the parent crying while Ellie skips off for her new adventure, and all my mommy friends will be like "oh, yeah, that was so LAST year." Ha!