First Day Jitters

It was the night before Mason's first day of first grade, and as I got ready for bed I couldn't shake this uneasy feeling inside of me.  At first I thought I might be getting sick so I started thinking about what I'd eaten during the day.  Then it hit me - I had a serious case of the back-to-school jitters. 

I'm still not totally certain what brought this on.  Maybe it's because our bedtime routine was thrown off and I didn't get a chance to read him "The Night Before First Grade" like I'd planned.  Maybe it was just genuine excitement for my kiddo.  And maybe, just maybe, it was that not-so-tiny perfectionist voice inside me wondering if I'd done enough to keep the summer brain drain at bay. 

I don't recall parents having to be so involved with their kids school work back when I was a kid.  I'm sure my mom helped me with homework when I needed it, but I don't really think she had to encourage me to do my homework.  I liked to do it, and I liked to do well on it.  (I'm also sure I didn't have very much of it, if any at all, back when I was in elementary school. Certainly not the weekly packets Mason had last year.)  I don't know if other moms are feeling this way, or if it's just self-imposed pressure, but I feel like how my child does in school directly reflects my momhood.  I'm hoping this is something that will wear off once Mason is old enough to be accountable for his own homework. 

It's the first day of school, and this post is about me - when it should be about my adorable little first grader.  So with that in mind, here's what's up with Mason these days:

• He lost two teeth this summer!  Sorry, no posts on this subject.  Teeth and especially the pulling of loose teeth creep me out.  I did save the teeth, which is also gross, but I couldn't bear the thought of throwing a part of my child away. 
• He is going to play soccer again this fall.  While I'm not certain he really liked it in the spring, he agreed to give it another try.  This time he's on a team of 1st and 2nd graders from his school and one of the second grade teachers is his coach, so maybe it will work out a little better this time around.
• He is getting better about having his picture taken.  (Evidence above.) There will eventually be a post about this turn of events.  I'll keep you all in suspense until then.
• The kid loves video games.  On his phone, on his dad's old phone that he inherited, on his dad's tablet and even on our old game systems.  Mario Kart is by far his favorite - imagine his surprise this summer when daddy got out the Nintendo 64 and showed him how we can play it on the big TV.  And the thing is, he's good at them!  He's legitimately beaten us both at Mario Kart and he's significantly better than me at Super Mario Brothers for SNES.  He's also been playing an Angry Birds RPG game on his phone, and at last check he was at a higher level than his dad. 

So that's a snapshot of our little guy these days.  Our little first grader.  To quote Mason, when I think about how quickly this time has gone all I can really say is "What. The. Heck."