"Back" to School Night with Emily!

I'll have to get the pictures up later, but tonight Emily went to her school for the first "official" time!

Leslie had to get ready early, so she dropped Emily and Benjamin off at Alcott, and we waited there until it was time to go (good thing too, I needed to get some work done!). When it was time, we rushed in the rain out into the car, and headed to McKinley.

When we walked in, Emily immediately ran to Leslie, as she was standing just outside her door. After a quick hug, Emily took me to her new classroom (she knew where it was, and I didn't... sheesh, I guess it starts already). Once in there, we were greeted by her teacher, and I got to work on some of the paperwork. After a few moments, we started our scavenger hunt and began looking around the room for various objects. Emily loved that part, as she went running from place to place, as if this was already a second home to her (we'll see about THAT on Wednesday.. hehehe), and even knew outside where the bathrooms were. One of our items was a toilet ("potty" if you ask Emily), and as soon as she saw it she went sprinting down the hall into the bathroom (probably should have reminded her to walk.. oh well) and yelled, "there's the potty!"

When we were done in her classroom, we went into Leslie's for a bit and chatted, and then headed out to go back to the car. On the way out, Emily had to say goodbye to every teacher as we left, and I saw McKinley for the first time as a dad, rather than a, well, whatever I am..

Every single teacher, without hesitation, immediately crouched down with their arms wide open, to which Emily ran into their arms hugging and laughing. They all took genuine interest in what she was saying, and made her feel instantly welcome. Now, as I watched this the first few times, I thought to myself, "sure.. well.. that's because it's Emily.. I mean, come on.. she is wonderful, and she knows you all.." but I couldn't have been more wrong. EVERY kid I saw was treated like that, whether the teacher knew him/her or not. So then, I started to wonder what it would be like if every teacher treated students that way, what would school look like? At some point it doesn't become "appropriate" to greet with hugs and laughs, in a welcoming manner, I just don't know when that happens. Here's a thought: what if every class you entered in throughout college your professors met you like that? Okay, that may be a little odd, but why not? At least, why not do your very best to make all the students feel welcome as they enter? When does it become okay to turn on the cold water?

Anyway, I sure did love seeing Emily being well taken care of, with lots of love (and chocolate chip cookies!). I can't wait to see her go to school on Wednesday, even though I know our golden rule will apply: anything we talk about more than twice with Emily, when it comes time to do whatever that is, melt down will occur. No question. Let's just hope we get through that quickly on Wednesday :)