Well, Keana’s first day of school didn’t end in her running to us, excited about coming back tomorrow. Yes she bounded off full of all the enthusiasm in the world at 7:45 a.m. and came back sunken at 3:45 p.m. It was a hard first day. There were good parts, and she did make a few new friends, but the rules were strict and she was hot and thirsty and she missed her family. The day was long and she was tired. Then she had homework.

That’s the way it goes sometimes and I think it’s good to realize that she’s not always going to come home happy, eager for more. We have to get rid of our own expectations as parents so we can see clearly what the actual situation is for her at school, and see the things that are working and the things that aren’t. Then we have to evaluate what we can do and what we can’t, and in all this, we have to give things time. It’s hard to see our baby have a tough first day in first grade. We’ll wake up tomorrow though, and try it again, and then again the next day and the next until we see things clearly.