I am not an emotional person normally. I really don't remember crying when my last child started Kindergarten. Today, that same child entered the halls of Jr. High School--the epitome of HELL, in my humble opinion. Steve and I have discussed for over a year now whether we should have Ashley do 6th grade over, because she is so young (her birthday is in August, so she just turned twelve years old). But Ashley really, really, really wanted to go on to Jr. High. She really, really, really wanted to be in the band. I took her down to Bountiful Music and we rented a flute. She went to a three day band camp. Then we went on a family vacation and she missed the all important Back to School event where kids can go and meet their teachers and walk around with their schedule so they know where all of their classes are and practice opening their lockers. We got home from vacation in time for school to start, so she asked me to go extra early with her and walk the halls with her class schedule in hand. We got to her school at 7:30, went to her locker so she could open it a few times without my help and then we went to each of her classes. By this time, the halls were filling up with kids and excited chatter and greetings as friends saw each other after a summer away. School was going to start in about 10 minutes, and I knew that it probably wasn't cool for her to hang around with her mommy. I didn't just want to leave her to fend for herself in a sea of unknown kids, but I knew that I couldn't hover over her as well. I suggested that she go ahead and go to her first class and take a seat while waiting for the first bell to ring. She didn't want to do that because no one else was in the classroom yet. She suggested that we walk down the hall towards the front office and as we rounded the corner we ran into cute Kaitlyn from our neighborhood. We said hello and she gave Ashley an excited hug and started talking with her, and then cute Jocee, also from the neighborhood, came over to join them. Right after that, Kaitlyn's sister, Lindsey was walking down the hall towards them and she yelled out a hello. I quietly walked away unnoticed, knowing that Ashley was in good hands. As I walked to the car and thought about the kindness of these girls, I found myself wiping tears from my eyes. I called Steve to tell him how the morning went with Ashley and I couldn't get the words out because I was so overwhelmed with emotion. I offered a prayer of thanks to Our Father who watches over all, and thanked Him for the angels that helped Him soothe my worries and make Ashley's transition into Jr. High a heavenly one.
