Amaya Grace Russell

Alarm clocks. Lunch box. Backpack. Pencil. White and Navy Polo Shirts. Khaki jumpers.





Amaya is a school going fool. She LOVES school and most of the time wakes up before her alarm goes off at 6:35. She jumps out of bed and puts on her "uniform" that she had laid out the night before. She comes into the living room and is ready for breakfast and a lengthy, question-filled chat with mom. Mom, however, is not bright-eyed and talkative and is having a hard time figuring out what she is doing let alone what is being said to her. It's amazing to me how Amaya can take off at 100 miles per hour as soon as the big blue eyes pop open. But, that's who Amaya is and I wouldn't want it any other way.

The first day of school was exciting and scary. For both of us. Chase and Caden were sleeping so I don't know that they were particularly excited or scared. Amaya had asked for a breakfast of waffles and bacon and that is what she got. We made breakfast and while she ate I made her lunch. Lunch was noodles with cheese and sauce. We bought a thermos that is supposed to keep her food hot for up to five hours and there was no way she was going for a cold sandwich after she discovered this. So, pasta it was. She had breakfast, she had her lunch ready, her back pack was filled with school supplies and I had a bag of supplies myself. There were no more excuses. It was time to leave.

We arrive at school and find a parking place. That actually took a lot longer than I thought. We weren't late, but I wanted to be early so I could have a few minutes before I had to leave her. We walk into her classroom and there is quite a lot of chaos. Children are crying and parents are hanging out trying to squeeze out those last few minutes before they have to leave. Amaya is starting to look a little overwhelmed, but she holds my hand and looks up at me and smiles. She's ready, but maybe she senses that I'm not. We find her chair at her table. She is in the red group and all the other children at her table are already there. Luckily, there are no criers at this table. They are sitting quietly coloring. She sits down and we put her backpack and bag of supplies by her chair. She wants her box of crayons and we get that out and there's not much else for me to do. We take a picture and she smiles SO big. I'm so proud of her. I give her a kiss and hug and tell her I'll be back to pick her up this afternoon. I start to leave and I turn around to take a picture: her smile is gone. She's okay, but she looks so unsure. At this point I have to leave becuase while there might be children crying there are definitely no parents crying. I almost make it to the car before it starts, but not quite.







I leave at 2:00 to pick her up. She gets out at 2:30. I can't wait any longer! Finally, here comes her class. She sees us. She is SO happy and excited. She had a wonderful day! She loves her teacher and she's sure she'll "like the kids once she gets to know them". She can't wait to go to school tomorrow and tomorrow they are starting "discipline"!! "Miss Gillespie is so beautiful and so nice. Do you think she likes me, mom? I bet she does." "We have PE. It is really cool. We play games." "I have folders to bring home every day and you have to sign them."


So, Amaya is just where she needs to be. She was made for school. There were no tears the second day. I just needed to know she would want to be at school. Not that we have a choice, but it sure does make it easier to take and leave her somewhere everyday that she really and truly loves to be.