The Kissing Hand

For the first day, as a family, we walked Isabel up to Culbertson. The school was bustling with activity. The school looked picture perfect with freshly groomed flower beds and mulch, blue and silver star balloons blowing in the wind, and teachers and administrators welcoming new and old students to Culbertson with smiles on their faces! Isabel was happy to see many old friends at her new school including Catherine Curley, Grayce King, and Wyatt Johnson from Pre-K, Natalie Maye and Grace Goldbeck also from Nursery School, and Ella D'Allesandro from St. Annie's. Her teacher, Mrs. Lebo, was waiting for her students in the doorway and greeted Isabel with a warm hug!

I was hoping to pick Isabel up from school at the close of the day, but she was adamant that she wanted to ride the school bus home. Reluctantly, I agreed to meet her at the bus stop. At 3:36 the school bus stopped at Horton and Tyson, but Isabel never made it off the bus. With panic in my voice, I was able to get the bus drivers attention and question him to the whereabouts of my daughter. After calling her name several times Isabel came bouncing down the aisle with a smile on her face. I asked her why she didn't get off the bus, and she matter of factly answered, she didn't know it was her bus stop! I couldn't argue with that, how would she know??

Then came the big question, "How was your first day?" Her reply, "awesome!" Probing further, I asked, "What did you do today?" She told me, Mrs. Lebo, read the Kissing Hand. She then grabbed my hand, kissed my palm, gently closed-up each finger, and put my hand to my cheek. It was very sweet and made my heart flutter!

I couldn't have asked for a better start to the school year!

Isabel survived her first day at Culbertson in first grade. We