By Kelye Kneeland

The first day of kindergarten is a day like no other. While children may only experience the big day once, a teacher begins her first day of kindergarten annually, having to pull off that first-day magic year after year.

It’s hard to think of moments that can compare to the terror and excitement that brand-new students face.

For me, as a kindergarten teacher, I can only think of a few moments:

The final moments of labor, waiting to lay eyes on the little being who had grown for months in my belly.

The moment I walked through the hushed hallway of an orphanage on the other side of the world waiting for my daughter, whom I had never met, to be placed in my arms.

The anticipation of a roller coaster’s decent designed to make me feel my heart beat inside my throat.

These moments that have thrilled, terrified and inspired me as an adult are not far off from the excitement in the room when those little feet, often in new and cherished shoes, walk shyly to the door of my classroom.

The rush of parents, screaming, flailing, like wild river rapids, wait with video cameras charged and ready to record that first precious moment when their children enter the classroom.

Eagerly, moms and dads look to see their child’s beautiful, carefully-chosen name on cute name tags and attached to freshly-scrubbed tables and cubbies.

Oh! The delight of a fresh pencil box, neatly arranged with sweet-smelling pointy tipped crayons and microbe-free pencils that wait for little fingers.

Oh! The books that have waited covered with miles of butcher paper throughout the summer so as not to collect dust.

Oh! The thrill of the blocks, the drinking fountain, the teacher’s desk and chair.

On the wall hangs the American flag that children will learn to pledge their allegiance to, stumbling over the words for days and months before they understand the words’ depth and meaning.

I will laugh and tear up with awe as they do their most sincere, “for Richard stands,” and other funny words as they do their best to recite what they were taught.

Hopefully, they have been loved, and will pass that on to their peers. With any luck, they will learn they can survive apart from their mothers and fathers for six hours until they return with broad smiles, recounting stories of new best friends, tad poles and being entrusted with a library book once a week.

Hopefully, they will delight in the grandeur of their new school building and quickly learn to navigate its special places: the playground, the cafeteria, the bathroom and the gym.

I hope they will weather the disappointment of not being first in line or able to reach the monkey bars for a few months, and that they will learn to persevere when things are hard.

I hope they won’t cry and run from the room in pursuit of their parents that first day, and that any shyness they feel will endure long enough for them to hear, and agree to abide by the rules.

I hope their mothers and fathers will wear dark sunglasses on that first day in case they experience the emotion parents often feel as their children begin their journey in education.

Hopefully, I too, have remembered to place mine on my desk, to wear waterproof mascara, to pick out favorite books and tune my autoharp to distract and delight my young charges.

On that first day, I want kindergarteners to learn their best teachers are their parents; trust in them to do their best, and in others to treat them well. They will learn to work together and depend on each other.

Kindergarteners will lose their first teeth together, and enjoy the fun of so many firsts – Halloween and Valentine’s Day parties, learning to snap, tie their shoes, spell “M-i-ss-i-ss-i-pp-i” and whistle.

They will each discover the joy of learning in their own way, and will hopefully delight in reading, writing, science and the world around them, along with math, art, music and PE.

They will learn that each of them has unique skills, talents, strengths and vulnerabilities. They will realize that each family is unique, and that we all share more common threads than differences despite the different languages we speak, countries we come from, traditions we share and faiths we adhere to.

The faith their parents place in their teacher is awe-inspiring. They begin a partnership that first day that will continue for a lifetime as they both become cheerleaders for these children on the road of life. The day is mystifying.

If you get a chance on Sept. 6, drive around your neighborhood and watch those sweet, eager, and sometimes tentative little ones as they open their front doors, walk down their driveways and begin their journeys.

Whatever comes their way in life will be influenced by that first day, and the many days of kindergarten that follow.

Let the journey begin!

Kelye Kneeland is a kindergarten teacher in Bellevue at Eastgate Elementary School.