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August 25th Dante's First Day of School
It's hard to tell who was more excited about the first day of school. Dante or me. I couldn't sleep all night, although it wasn't just from excitement - Blais decided he wanted to be awake from 1 -3 am. Matthew walked around the living room with the baby who was curiously soaking in the sights and sounds of the world in the middle of the night. I laid in bed trying to sleep. Instead, I stared at the digital numbers of my alarm clock pondering the passing of the time. How quickly life happens. Dante is almost five and we are already at the "first day of school" milestone.
The alarm went off at 6:40 am. Dante woke up immediately, sat up in bed and asked excitedly: "Am I late for school?" "No, you're not. But you better put your clothes on and get some breakfast!", Matthew said to him. As he was putting on his uniform, Evan asked in confusion: "Where are my school clothes, mama?" I should have been ready for this. But I wasn't. Then we walked into the kitchen. Dante immediately spotted his lunch box sitting on the counter. He grabbed it. Out fell a little bag of 'napolitanke' - our favorite Croatian cookies. "Wow! That's great mama!", he said. And then he noticed a little stick-on note I put in there hoping he would find it during his lunch. I drew a heart and a smiley face. "Thanks for the note. It says you love me." "Keep cool." I said to myself. He couldn't eat his breakfast. He was too excited. He sat at the kitchen table looking at the wall clock - I told him when the big hand is on '5' it's time to go.	Dante was too excited to eat his breakfast
Evan was walking behind Dante with his (empty) lunch box, looking for stuff to put in. Quickly I found a go-ghurt and a fruit roll-up and gave it to him. "How about a banana, Evan?" "I am going to Dante's school?" he asked hopefully. Matthew signaled to me that it was time and that I should sneak out. Dante was already at the bottom of the stairs, sitting down, holding his lunch box in his lap. I took our baby Blais and off we went. One of the reasons why I love our little town is the fact that it's a "walking" town. There is always a chance you'll see your friend or a neighbor on a sidewalk. So, as we drove towards the school, Dante looked out the window trying to recognize the kids. When we got to the school's parking lot where all of the kids would line up, he ran into the group looking for his class and his teacher - Ms. Tucker. Sr. Lawrence, the school's principle greeted us with a big, warm smile and pointed out to me: "He is ready? And how about you?" I decided, if I just nod, I might be able to hold my tears back. I wanted to nod "yes", but you can't tell a lie to a nun, who is also a school principal, can you? I smiled back at her nodding 'no, no, no' Dante found his teacher Ms. Tucker and lined up properly. Soon, the rest of the kids arrived with their parents who were taking photos and waving at them. I gave him a kiss, he kissed me back and then I walked away pushing baby Blais in the stroller. I made a big loop around the parking lot before I was ready to come closer and snap a photo. I didn't want Dante to see me crying. He is a very sensitive kid and he was very excited about his big day. I didn't want him to be sad. As I looked at the kids who make the entire student body of Annunciation Catholic School (and there is only about 120 of them) I felt we made the right decision about the school we chose. Sure, a Montessori school would be wonderful (we love Montessori technique), but it would be very hard watching Dante get lost in the crowd of 600+ students. Here, on this parking lot, every teacher knew every single kid and their families, the parents were close friends and the kids from all grades interacted with each other. I thanked God for leading us to Clifton and to the Annunciation Parish. Once again, I was reminded that if we simply trust Him, everything will work out perfectly.	Dante looking for his classmates.   There is only 13 kids in Ms. Tucker's kindergarten class.
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