Star Status

It was the first day of school today and I felt like a movie star. Because I teach kindergarten my kids don't officially start until Monday, but we do have other responsibilities like screening the newbies and morning and afternoon duty. 

That's where the movie star part comes in. 

I walked out to the playground this morning with my own second grader, who immediately took off to find his friends which officially relieved me of mom duty. Since he's pretty much grown up at our school he thinks he owns the place...what does he need me for?

But there were some who did need me. My little cherubs from last year. Now so much bigger than when they walked into MY classroom last September. I'm what's comfortable and familiar. I can be counted on to point them in the right direction and provide the "you've gotten so big!" and the "how was your summer?"

I got the smiles and waves from last year's moms and dads, some of whom I've come to consider friends, but the best part was the hugs. The hugs from my former students, some now third graders who still look to me for a little security in a playground of uncertainty. The second graders who think they're so grown up now, but still come for the hug and know it's okay, and the first graders who aren't really sure it's okay to hug me in case it's too "babyish" now that they're no longer in kindergarten.

But as I walk across the playground, collecting those hugs like Oscars and Emmys on a shelf, and I hear one "Hi Mrs. Kindergarten" after another, I smile because I know I have arrived.