It seems like we were just arriving home with our tiny baby Ashlie a year ago, but it's been FOUR YEARS and she started pre-Kindergarten this week! She has been pretty excited about starting school, but every now and then we'd see her little worries come out.
Last week they were having a school open house on Thursday night, and early in the week at breakfast time she let out a huge sigh. She said, "I'm just going to have to tell ALL my friends that I'm Chinese. Chinese American. I was born in China ~ I just have to tell everyone." Hmmmm. All of her current friends know she's Chinese; they're Chinese too! I figured out that she was worrying about her new friends. By Thursday she was pretty worked up, and burst out sobbing on several occasions. I prayed for the Lord to somehow give her peace about this big step in her life.
When we drove up to the open house, we saw a family that looked a lot like ours (caucasian mommy and daddy and dark little girls with black hair) leaving the school and heading for the playground. A very wise Daddy said, "Let's go check out the playground first, girls!" We met the other family and learned that their two daughters were also from China. (Turns out I had met this mom at Walmart about a year ago!) Anyway, their sweet Emma is also four and was starting Pre-K as well! We talked a little and found out what mornings Emma would be there and what teacher she had. When we went inside I spoke with the kind woman in charge of students/teacher scheduling, and we managed to get Ashlie and Emma in the same class and on the same days. Once Ashlie knew that Emma, from China, was in her class, she was excited about school from that moment on! Thank you Lord for placing them in our path that evening!
When her first day of school arrived on Tuesday, she woke up extra early to ensure that she had some Mommy Time all by herself. Mommy enjoyed that too! We somehow got all three girls fed, dressed, with hair fixed and teeth brushed by the time that the girls are usually waking up. We arrived at school on time and Ashlie was nervous, but very brave. She tried hard to be excited. She didn't shed a single tear. I, on the other hand, struggled all morning to hold in my tears. & my tummy hurt! LOL, I did enough worrying for both of us!
Noon finally arrived and we rushed to go pick up our girl. The first thing she told us was that it was the "Best Day of Her Whole Life!"
Our baby Ashlie is growing up, and I couldn't be more proud of her!
2 comments:
How precious that Ashlie has found a cool new friend to start school with! Way to go Ashlie. You look like such a big girl in your photo!
Halli likes school too, but she keeps finding ways to convince her mom she shouldn't be riding the bus. Halli prefers the comfort of her car. :-)
You girls will have to get together and visit about your fun times at school!
Kim
Your post brought tears to my eyes. God is so AWESOME!! I am so glad her first day was the "Best Day of Her Whole Life!" That is just precious. They do grow up soo fast, right before our eyes. She looked simply beautiful her first day of school.
Post a Comment