step one, we can have lots of fun

First day of school today. What a day. Info about staggered entry went out to some parents, not others. Some thought they could choose whatever timeslot worked for them. Some arrived an hour early. Some arrived 40 minutes late. Our classroom aides have completely new schedules and responsibilities, so were occasionally utterly confused.... What a day.

That said, here are some things I am grateful for as I approach the end of this marathon sprint:

• That most parents at my school have a sense of humour.
• That most of my colleagues have a sense of humour.
• That I have a good relationship with the director of our childcare centre (and that she has a sense of humour), which helped ensure that all the children were supervised by caring adults at all times.
• That my boss (who has the best sense of humour of all) is the embodiment of grace under pressure, keeping a smile on her face all day, through parent complaints and teacher whining and children's outbursts. For a while this morning, in the midst of all the chaos, she was making her rounds while cuddling a sobbing 3-year old who had melted down during preschool dropoff. If all teachers of young children had a role model and mentor so completely committed to putting the children first, the school system would be a very different place. Everyone should, at some point in their career, have a leader, a mentor, a friend (because I do consider her a friend) like Camryn.
  

Don't get me wrong: it was a magical day, a memorable day, a magnificent day -- how can the first day of kindergarten be anything BUT magnificent?!. And the children.... oh, the children, who I already love so much my heart could burst with it. You will all learn more about them very very soon. But right now, after running through the same first day routine twice, and making no less than 5 calls to childcare, and putting out 101 fires about our aides' schedules, and repeating my parents' night speech three times to make sure every parent heard it.... I am just glad that this magical, memorable, magnificent day... is over.