First Day of 3rd Grade

Last Thursday was Grace's first day of 3rd grade. I have been anxiously waiting for this day to come because it means NO MORE FULL WEEK DAYCARE PAYMENTS. Those $145 per week checks are hard to write, but most of me doesn't mind because I know my daughter is in the best hands.
Anyway, Grace wanted nothing to do with me that morning. She couldn't wait to get out of the house and on her way to school and she didn't want me to drop her off. She wanted to take the bus in with her friends. I never thought I'd see the day, mostly because her first day of Kindergarten was a fiasco. You see, I let Grace take the daycare bus to school because I knew that if I took her, she'd cling, cry, scream and do pretty much anything to keep me from leaving her. I thought this would be the best thing. Besides, we had practiced the route and done several walk-through's so she would know her way to class the next day. Sooooo...the next day, I drop her off at daycare and I stealthily follow the bus to her school to watch her get off and go inside. My poor baby. I watched these older kids get off the bus and they all ran off into the school, then here comes this tiny little kindergartener all by herself, trying to catch up to the big kids because I'm sure she thought the school would go into lockdown & she'd never make it in if she didn't make it in with the big kids. Her backpack & lunch bag trailing behind her, she made it in, but I knew in my heart something was wrong.
I got back on the road and called the front office. By the time someone picked up, I told them I was worried about my daughter, Grace. They knew exactly who I was talking about. They said someone found her crying in the hallway and escorted her to class. Needless to say, I felt like the worst mother EVER. I cried all the way to work and couldn't wait to get home that day and tell her how sorry I was.
4:00 rolls around and Grace's bus comes to a stop in front of our house and I expect her to start crying about how her morning went. Well, she gets off, happier than ever and can't wait to tell me all about Kindergarten. That's my girl!