Today was Brendan's first day of Middle school.
Brendan is the type of child who needs to prepare well in advance for change, so we've talked through the first day several times. It helped a lot that we've been to the school already for registration, a few AP placement exams and an orientation, so he knows where the cafeteria and the sixth grade wing are.
Still he started fretting about today on Friday. He woke up with a stomach ache. So we went through it again. I told him everything I'd learned from the parent orientation and he added detail to the pieces that I didn't know much about. Thankfully, he spent the night with his aunt on Saturday, which was a welcome distraction from Monday morning. Yet, when we were driving home last night, he said, "why do they throw all this stuff at us on the first day? How am I supposed to remember where my classes are, when to go to PE and my pin number for lunch?" So we assured him, again, that the teachers were there to help and would be very lenient on the first day.
Then, last night, I read to him before we went to sleep to try to calm him down. We read a devotion out of Skateboards, Scooters and Scripture by Anne McFarlane, a great book for kids, and we read the accompanying scripture passage. He settled down a little. Then I read to him from Isaiah 41:13, a passage we found from an earlier devotion, which spoke right to the situation. "For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you." With that he went to sleep.
This morning, Brendan could only manage to choke down a glass of milk for breakfast for all the butterflies in his tummy, but there were no tears. When I stopped in the drop-off lane at school, I said, "I wish I could go in with you, but I can't. Just remember God is holding your right hand." He slipped out of the car and I watched him bravely walk into his new Middle School.
