Life as We Know It, Is Over

Isabella Claire Holsten

• Age: 4
• Education level: Preschool, 1st Day
• Eagerly anticipating: Art
• Future vocation: Firefighter (that does flashlight duty and puts out fires with water)
• Car Ride Anthem: "I'm going to preschool, yeah, yeah, yeah! I'm going to preschool, yeah, yeah, yeah!" (lyrics and vocals by ICH)

Isabella inherited many things from me: stubbornness, a feisty temperament, a touch of drama...but one thing she did not inherit (thank goodness) was an apprehension to try new things. This girl walked through the doors of her preschool and enthusiastically announced to every kid (and teacher) that she met, that today was her first day of school.

As we walked into her classroom, soft music was playing and stations were set up to greet the kids: playdough, painting, a bin with dinosaurs, a dollhouse, a play-kitchen area.  I was not sad, but I was emotional, because I knew what a perfect match it was for her and how ready she was to be there. I kissed and hugged her good bye, and left her to play at the dollhouse station with only one parting thought: oh please may there be no tornadoes that hit that dollhouse. 

P.S. After dropping Isabella off, I headed back to the car with Matthew and could not, for the life of me, figure out how to get to the grocery store. (I guess I was more emotional than I thought.) When I did finally get to the store, I could not, for the life of me, figure out what to do with my new found freedom of having to grocery shop with only one sleeping baby. (I quickly adjusted. I can get used to this!)