Same Mistakes

4. First Day

4. First Day

Danielle.

It's been about four days since my Liam-encounter at Walmart. This morning I got a call that today is Max and Madison's first day of school, which really took me by surprise. I was thinking school started in another two days. I had quickly wake up the kids and get them dressed in their new first-day outfits.

I took photos of Max and Madison with their little backpacks, and piled them into the car. We went through the McDonalds drive-through and picked up some egg mcmuffins. Not their favourite breakfast, but when I got the call we only had an hour to get to school. Max and Maddie are started out with 8:45am to 12:00pm school days, until year one. Kindergarten always has shorter days. It's just gonna be me and Megan at home.

Turns out Megan just had a little cold. Fever, runny nose, and headache. But she's okay. Just tired. My Mom and Dad came over to my house to watch her while I bring Max and Madison to school. Megan wasn't feeling up to leaving the house. "Are you sure I'm going to be in Madison's class?" Max questioned for the 100th time.

"If you're not, I'll homeschool you." I told him, taking a bite of my egg McMuffin as I drove. "Cross your heart." Max prompted. "Fine." I mumbled, putting the breakfast down and crossing my finger across my heart. "Good." Max sighed in relief, leaning back in his car-seat.

I smiled, turning my focus back to the road.

*

"Here we are," I said, parking the car at Westmyer Elementary School. I unbuckled my seatbelt, and climbed out. Max and Madison climbed out of their car-seats, and followed me towards the school. Madison and Max are so adorable today. Though I didn't have much time to get them ready, they look amazing.

Madison's backpack is giraffe print and Max's is zebra print. They wanted to be similar. "You two nervous?" I asked, peeking over at them as I clipped my car-keys onto my purse. "Nope." Madison said. "Um, no." Max said, not as blunt. I smiled, ruffling his hair. Why do I always ruffle his hair?

Many other moms and children were standing with their kids. Some kids fought with their parents, wanting to go home. Others calmly held their mothers' hand, walking calmly towards the building. I walked inside the propped-open door, and looked around at the crowds.

"Okay, stay with me and don't get lost." I said to Max and Madison, turning around. They nodded quickly, eyes wide at all the people. "Will it always be this full?" Max asked, gulping. "No, it's just because it's the first day of school." I explained. "Well... That's dumb that the first day of school is scary, because then kids don't want to come back." Max stated, crossing his arms.

I fought the urge to laugh, as I led the kids down to room one, kindergarten with Ms. Jennings. "What room are we looking for?" Asked Madison, looking at the numbers above the rooms. "We're already here," I said, pushing the classroom door open. Max and Madison followed me inside.

The classroom was silent compared to the busy hallways. The letters of the alphabet were taped all over the walls. Two chalkboards and one white board filled one entire wall. A huge corner of toys contained a rocking horse, blocks, kitchen set, toy vacuum, toy tool set, dress-up and dolls. Wow.

About sixteen children sat on the large, circular carpet in the middle of the hard-wood floored room, along with eighteen parents, and one teacher sitting on a spinny-chair. The teacher stood up, walking towards me and holding out a hand. "Hello, I'm Ms. Jennings." She greeted, shaking my outstretched hand.

"Danielle Peazer." I replied grinning, taking my hand back and sliding it into the pocket of my jeans. "You two must be Max and Madison." Said Ms. Jennings, grinning at my two children who were nervously holding hands. M&M nodded. "Great! You're the last two children we've been waiting for. Now the class is complete!"