a high-five and a smile

Another milestone reached today...standardized testing for my 2nd grade wonder!  I am guessing that maybe I was as nervous as Alex...if not more so.  He was testing with complete strangers, so to speak, as he was being tested with those in our co-op that we signed up with only for the testing purposes this year. 

Trusting those in charge with his well being was easy...believing they'd understand him if something came up, not so much.  They didn't know him.  He didn't know them.  That was the hard part for Mama today.  But, nevertheless, I walked him in, registered him, and found his room with the other second graders.  Then, I left.  And prayed...and then prayed some more. 

Although my eyes teared up, I kept the tears from falling.  I didn't want to upset Tim or get all emotional over silly things like my boys growing up and such.  I do my best to teach them confidence, independence, and coping skills for when things go wrong...and for a level headed response to when they go right as well.  In my head, I know a day like today is them putting that learning into practice.  In my heart, I so wanted to be there...just in case.
Tim and I had some errands to run today.  I purposefully had a list of places to go to keep my mind occupied on tasks so I wouldn't be lost in thought over how Alex was doing.  We accomplished our tasks, which felt good to have them off the "to do" list, and made our way back to pick Alex up 3 hours later.
My heart pounded as I saw his classmates for the day coming into the room.  How was he going to be?  How'd it go?  Any tears?  Any hint that something was bothering him? 
He walked in casually confident, a smile on his face when he caught sight of us waiting on him.  He told me that there was only one question he left blank and asked me what I thought the answer to it was.  I assured him that one question blank was awesome and that I'm proud of him and how well he handled his first day of testing!
Thinking back over the day, maybe the tears are due to how blessed I am to be Alex's mom and how proud of him I am!  He's come so far from the little guy I would leave at preschool crying every morning.  I am thankful that we worked our way through that milestone so that on a day like today we parted ways with a high-five and a smile!