Garden of children

Well, Ava's first day of kindergarten was today. It was a moving morning for Andrea and I as we stood there in the front of Ava's new school, watching and waving at our big girl as she stood in her class line, getting ready to walk into the building. The event was well documented -- be assured of that. Oh, and I'm sure one of us will post photos of Ava-girl with her pink high-top Chuck Taylor's, pink and orange dress (with a neato flower that has petals that you can actually touch and feel), and Hello Kitty backpack and lunchbox, standing there in front of the school, with her usual stoic gaze. It's funny how this girl of ours could be so giddy and vibrant just 10 minutes earlier while at home, but quietly becomes this tender statue in front of other potential classmates. At times it seems she has this persona of a 20 year-old muse caught in the body of a 5 year-old kindergartener.

In big family moments like this, I don't get that emotional. I do when I look back on it, in retrospect (like now), but as it's happening, I'm more excited for Ava than anything else. This is a new chapter in her life -- a new stage! Oh! just thinking about all the new things she'll get to experience and learn, racing home to tell us all about it, showing us all the new creations she made during her eventful day makes my heart floopy. I loved learning when I was in school, and now I can't wait to see Ava get just as excited as I once did. I was talking to my mom about this, and she said that she was the exact same way about my sister and I going to school for the first time. She was more excited for us learning new things than being sad about us being gone during the day. (Of course she was excited -- she was getting rid of us finally!)

Funny how cyclical life is, isn't it?