First Day at DA

Well the boys are officially "Bears" now.  They are enrolled in Davidson Academy and went for their first day of school on Thursday, August 9th.  Finn didn't want to put his DA shirt on for fear that he would be a traitor to HCA.  My heart broke a little bit for him, but explained that once he put it on for the first time the hardest part would be over. They both managed to put on their DA shirts without being struck by lightening. They looked pretty sharp.  Their new shirts are dry-fit, so they wear nicely.







Here they are at the lower school building.  There are two campuses at DA - one for K3-6th and the other for 7th-12th.  We made them pose for a picture before we went in - they thought it was pretty lame.  When we got to the front door we were greeted by a red carpet, Mrs. Baldwin (the lower school principal) and the headmaster. Finn and Sam shook their hands and then they got their picture taken for their lunchroom badge.




Next we went to Finn's room.  As we walked in we saw that most of the students were already present and sitting in their assigned seats. Finn's entrance felt like it was straight out of a movie.  The second his feet crossed the threshold, every student looked up at him.  One little girl elbowed the boys next to him and pointed at Finn.  I was so uncomfortable for him.  We put his backpack away and went to find his desk. The desks were clumped in groups of five.  Finn's desk clump was completely empty.  So Finn sat down by himself and started working on his worksheet.  He smiled for the picture and then put his head back down.  He didn't cry, but I sure felt like it.  I knew that he wouldn't sit there alone for long, but I really wanted another student to show up quickly.

Next we went to Sam's class.  Sam was hilarious.  The idea of starting something completely new didn't phase Sam at all - that is until he walked into his classroom and saw a room full of unfamiliar faces. Sam's eye grew to the size of silver dollars and he scanned the room robotically.  We helped him put his backpack away and then helped him get his pencil box stocked.  Then Sam started working on his picture.  Like Finn, Sam didn't cry either, but we could tell that he was very uncomfortable.





Finn and Sam's classrooms are on the same hallway so we were able to pass Finn's class again on the way out.  Much to my dismay I looked in to see Finn still sitting all by himself. Thankfully his back was to us.  It was at that point that I started feeling teary.  I almost made it out of the building without crying until Kindle hugged me.  I didn't cry much, but I felt like sobbing.  I am so excited for the boys and I know that we made a good decision.  The Lord has affirmed that for us time after time, including twice that same week.  However, I know how hard it is to be the new kid in class. 

Fast forward to the 3:30 p.m.  I called Michael to see how the boys were doing. I couldn't wait to hear about their first day.  When Michael answered the phone he was huffing and puffing.  I was terribly confused and inquired as to his winded state.  He proceeds to tell me that he was out jogging.  Mortified, I asked why he was jogging and not with the boys.  He tells me that the boys don't get out of school until 4:00.  On Thursdays the boys don't start until 9:00 (as opposed to 8:00 on all other days).  Michael assumed that since they started an hour later on Thursdays that they were released an hour later as well.  Well, let me tell you they do not.  They are released at 3:00 on the dot.  It was now 3:30 and I was in Gallatin and Michael was jogging in Goodlettsville.  Michael ran back to his car and drove to DA. In the mean time I received a few calls from the school.  They ensured me that they understood the mixup, but still "felt so sorry for the children."  We Begleys make great first impressions. 

Even though they didn't get picked up until 4:00, the boys reported that they had good days.  Sam told me that a boy in his class asked to be his "BFF" - a request that Sam found to be weird considering that they had only known each other for a few minutes.  Despite his misgivings, and despite the fact that Sam doesn't know this child's name, Sam agreed.  Later in the evening I asked Sam who he sat with at lunch.  He said that he couldn't remember the boy's name.  I asked if it was his "BFF."  Indignantly Sam responded, "Mom, I am his BFF, he is NOT my BFF."  Glad to know that Sam entered into a one-sided friendship.

Oh, and Finn also started little league baseball the same night.  He had his first ever baseball practice on the same day as his first day of school.  Michael said that he did alright.  We expected that Finn would be the worst kid on the team.  I was thrilled to learn that he was the second worst kids on the team.

While Finn was at baseball, Sam, Will an I went to the store.  Will was terrible.  I will never take him to the store again. During one of his quiet spells, Will found the carton of strawberries and took a single bit out of most of them.