It was the first day of school for Ollie and Lucas. Ethan had a short visit the day before as part of a phase-in process. However, this felt like the real first day.
Ollie was going to have a half-day this day along with Ethan, and Lucas was going to hang out in the playground just for half an hour with me to get used to being around his class and teachers. Gradually his days would get longer. Ollie and Ethan would have a full school day on the next day.
As the line got moving, Ollie pushed Lucas in the stroller. Sometimes he got distracted and would forget what he was doing and then push the stroller ahead to close the gap. Ethan was quiet and looking around. He can be loud and exuberant, but he can also be calm and observant. Lucas sat in the stroller characteristically relaxed as we slowly made our way to the door.
Last year, Ollie and Ethan were at this school together, but they were dropped off at different doors at slightly different times. So I would drop off one of them and then wait in the car for like ten minutes and drop off the other one. They were in different parts of the building and different divisions, making sense for them to enter different doors.
This year Ollie and Ethan enter the same door simultaneously, and Lucas is the one who goes to the other door. As we got up to the door, Ollie reached out, and Ethan took his hand, and I kissed them both on the back of the head as they were already on the way up to the entrance, and without looking back, they walked hand in hand into school.
This moment showed a lot.
It showed how much Ethan has grown up.
There were many moments two years, that drop-off was hard. It was not unusual two years ago for Ethan to cry at drop off. I remember moments last year, driving away hearing him yelling. I couldn’t bear to look back. So I just drove up trusting in the outstanding faculty helping with drop-off. But today on this first Ethan walked right in without any hesitation.
Because of COVID-19, this school keeps students in pods last year, so Ethan and Ollie rarely saw each other. At some point last year, Ethan said that he thought that he went to a different school than Ollie. I love that walking in together will help them understand that they are part of the same school community.
It can be challenging to make Ethan hold my hand, like when we are in parking lots. There are moments that Ollie resists helping Ethan. But, on that morning, Ethan reached out and held Ollie's hand, and Ollie, without me asking, chose to help Ethan.
There will be mornings when it doesn’t go this smoothly. Ethan will resist going into the building at some point, and Ollie will not be as helpful sometimes. However, this moment was a wonderful reminder of what Ethan and Ollie can be for each other.
I love the school I send my children to, but the pandemic is still raging, and children are getting sick. Our country in some ways is still in chaos. While it is easier to send children to school in some ways compared to last year, it’s still not easy. A new school year is a challenge for children in the best of times and even though Ollie and Ethan don't understand the full extent of the pandemic, they know that something isn't right. In the face of all of this, I am so proud that they chose to brave with and for each other on that day.
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