Tears for Mom, But Kids Confident on First Day of School

Little Sarah Surabian is five fingers old this year and ready for school.

“She already said to me, ‘don’t help me get on the bus, I can do it myself,’ ” said her mom, Kim, a little more than an hour before Sarah was picked up for her first day at Warnsdorfer Elementary School.

Sarah had a new backpack, a nice new braid put in her hair by her mom, and, of course, new clothes. Dressed in a white T-shirt whose symbols showed Peace, Love and Kindergarten, Sarah bounced around her living room with her younger sister, Caroline, as she waited for the afternoon kindergarten session to begin.

A veteran of pre-school, Sarah’s says she’s ready for the jump to elementary school, and has even worked on ABCs and met her teacher, Mrs. Scott, during an orientation.

“She said she already feels like she had her first day because she met her teacher,” said mom.

By all accounts, Sarah was ready for school. She was looking forward to the bus (She promised to buckle up) and was excited to be going to school with a friend of hers, Emily B. But for mom, things were a little different.

“I’ve been crying all week,” said Kim. “I’m anxious and nervous to get the first day over with. It’s not like she hasn’t been gone, she wet to daycare. But it’s a momentous occasion in someone’s life when they start kindergarten.”

True to her word, Kim didn’t shed a single tear while waiting at the bus stop, which she said seemed like forever. But once the doors closed and the bus rolled out, all bets were off.

“I told her I may cry a little at the bus stop, but she said ‘mommy, it’s just down the street.”