I don’t think I slept much the night before Adlai started school…
I spent most the night chasing worst-case senarios out of my mind. Adlai, though was having no such difficulty sleeping. For him the day could not come soon enough.
For once, Faith and I were up before the boys. We were more organised than I can ever remember us being. At the agreed time we went in to wake up Adlai, nervous that his school enthusiasm would have waned over night. As Adlai opened his eyes, they filled with excitement as he whispered ‘BIG SCHOOL’.
Before I knew it, he was dressed, with his solid black shoes on, and his bag round his neck. He took some convincing that it wasn’t yet time to go to school, and ate his breakfast at a frightening pace (still with his bag round his neck). It was early but it was impossible to contain him any longer so we spilled out of our house, took the obligatory ‘first day at school’ photo, and loaded into the car.
My emotions held together long enough to see him go over the road and climb into the car. At that point I had to go inside before I became more hindrance than help. Faith and the boys drove away toward the new adventure. Adlai’s enthusiasm lasted well into the classroom and even Faith’s exit didn’t phase him. (I, on the other hand, was still at home gathering my composure before cycling to work.)
When Faith collected Adlai at 3:30pm, he was still smiling. The first day was a massive success. Adlai is a school boy.
