First Day of School

It was a crazy day for both of us. I think more crazy for myself then for Mills.  She had her first day of Pre-school!  Now I didn't realize that kids went to pre-school so early, I thought the going age was 4, but I guess now it's 3.  This whole pre-school business started May 2012, that is when open registration started.  Normally I wouldn't even think about signing up Mills for school in May when school starts in September, however there is only ONE pre-school on base in all of Okinawa.  To make matters worse, I found out that there were only 32 open spots for Mills age in that school.  This island is all about first come first serve and competition is stiff with about 55,000 families on island.  So 55,000 families, 1 pre-school on base, and 32 spots for 3 year olds, hmmmm the odds were stacking up.  So I decided that I would go super duper early to the school on the day of sign ups.  I heard horror stories of Moms waiting in line the night before to get their children into that school. Sign ups started at 7 am and unfortunately were happening when Morgan was out on an exercise.  So I enlisted my friend Len to watch Mills for me and I went to the school at 4 am, oh and I was 9 months pregnant!  Well, I was able to get her in and in the time slot that I wanted so it all ended up working out.

Fast forward to September and the first day of school.  It's not the first time Mills has been in a school setting or away from me for a few hours, so it didn't seem that big a deal to me.  I just figured I'd take a few pics, drop her off, run some errands and come pick her up.  But it totally hit me as I was driving away from her school after dropping her off, she is growing up.  *sigh* I mean she really isn't my baby girl anymore, she is a 3 year old, pre-school going, potty trained, big sister, and a little kid.  Now to her, I'm sure its just a fun couple of hours playing with friends but it's a big deal.  She shed no tears when I left and she seemed excited to be there.  All of which I am very happy for.  But now I know time is only going to fly by faster and before I know it she is going to be walking down the aisle to get her high school diploma.  I know its cliche to say, but kids grow up so fast.  Here is to a wonderful first year of pre-school.