Today was a very exciting day in Mommyland, Cameron went off to first grade.

Last year he was in Kindergarten for a full day but this year his full day will be a little bit longer. It’ll be very interesting to see what kind of mood he comes home in each afternoon…He still takes naps.

Last night he was so excited for school he was jumping around saying, “Why can’t tomorrow come sooner?!?” It really was cute. I hated school as a kid so it’s nice to see him so excited about school and learning.

Of course he didn’t sleep well last night (neither did I) and was up at the butt crack of dawn to start his day. Cameron didn’t have much of an appetite for breakfast but I packed him a big lunch so I let that one go. An hour before it was time to head out for the bus he was asking to leave and then throwing a fit that it wasn’t time yet.

The bus was a big issue for us last year so of course I’m nervous about what this year will bring. He didn’t have a three hour bus ride home today so we’re already doing better than last year. I hear that some of the older kids were picking on him, which sent me into my usual Mama Bear mode, but we’ll see what happens in the next few days before I make a federal case over it.

I managed to get him on the bus this morning without crying. I think a big part of my success was the fact that I was hiding behind my camera trying to get a few good shots.

I looked at the clock a lot today wondering what he was doing, worrying whether or not he was making friends. Is it lunch time yet? Are the kids nice? What is he learning about right now?

I wonder if I’ll do that every first day of school?

I was at work when he got off the bus but I got a run down of his day when I got home. He had a great day and is looking forward to the rest of the year. Cameron made new friends and reconnected with a few old friends, it gives me piece of mind that in first grade kids still make friends easily.

Have your kids gone back to school yet? How was the first day back?

It’s hard to believe that the school year is over, it feels like just yesterday that I watched Cameron get on the bus for the very first time. It feels like just yesterday that I sat looking at the clock wondering what he was doing, wondering if he was OK.

He was placed in the Accelerated Reading Program early on. When I was a kid I had major problems with reading and was always behind a grade level, so when I was told the Cameron was reading ahead of the curve I was overjoyed. Reading wasn’t his only strong subject either. My son is a math wiz. MY KID! Talk about being a proud mama.

Through the year we had some issues with his behavior but his teacher told me she thought he wasn’t being challenged enough and was bored. We worked together to get his behavior in line and he has thrived.

Sure we had some struggles along the way, most of them bus related. There was the three hour bus ride home on the first day. Followed by the changing of his bus (without my knowledge). Then we had the bullying incident that lasted for months and had me threatening to press assault charges on a six year old if it wasn’t handled. That link was only the beginning of the story. By January I was on a first name basis with the second in command of the district and had had many conversations with the principal.

So here we are now. We’ve made it through this journey called Kindergarten and I now have a first grader on my hands.

I’m sitting here thinking about the school year and all that Cameron has accomplished in a relatively short period of time, it has me in complete awe. That’s my chubby little baby, he can’t possibly be finishing his first year of school.

He will never know how proud he has made me.

As we enter into the Summer Of Mommyland, one of my main goals is to make sure he keeps learning and is ready to hit the ground running for first grade.

The last day.

No he wasn’t sad it was his last day, he didn’t want his picture taken. You’d think these kids would be used to having their pictures taken for mommy’s blog.

How will you keep your child’s mind active over the summer?