Back in session…

I’m sure I’m not the only one who has a post going up this week about how their kids went back to school, as it’s that time again.  The time when some kids are excited, some cry, where some parents cry and some get excited.  Me, I’m in the “skip on the way to the car” camp when school starts.  Not that I won’t miss my little turkeys, I will.  But school seems to start back right around the time when we’re all getting sick of each other and need a break.  School provides a routine, a rhythm that doesn’t live in the summer months.  And it gives me an easy answer five days a week when I get asked “Where are we going today?”

Mr. B started First Grade.  And I think he was pretty excited about going to a new school.  The day before, he tried on his dress code clothes, and seeing him there in his belt and blinding-white sneakers, I almost lost it.  First of all, this is the first time I’ve seen him in a belt.  Poor kid weighs about 37 pounds on a good day before pooping, so we usually stick to elastic pants if we can.  He had his shirt tucked in, also a first.  And he’d gone to great lengths to comb his hair and style it to the side.  But it wasn’t just what he was wearing on his body.  It was that proud, handsome smile he adorned that melted my heart.  A look that seemed to say “I’m a big kid now.” 

I was glad to see that my little Peanut is not a wee person in a room full of giants, but that he seems to fit right in.  There seems to be a calmness in the room when we go in in the mornings, as all the students who have arrived are already busy doing their Morning Work.  It’s an energy unfamiliar to Mr. B, and I’m not sure if he knows what to do with it.  He’s an active, squirmy kid, full of enthusiasm and energy.  And this, being First Grade and all, is more serious than he’s used to.  A part of me worries that it will be too structured, that his spirit will get broken.   Only time will tell…

He’s telling us that recess is his favorite part of the day, so at least he’s consistent with last year’s favorites.  This is the first time he’s eating lunch in a cafeteria where he gets to pick his own food, and he did open up and tell us that the lunch was “really good.”  So we asked him what he had for lunch.  “Chicken.” (not bad, I think) “oh, and a bagel…and some crackers…and some croutons.  They have the best croutons.”  That’s my little carbohdyrate!

Miss P also started Preschool five mornings a week.  We ponied up the extra cash to let her stay for lunch, which she was excited about.  The school had a few opportunities for her to go in before school started to check out the room and meet her teachers.  The first day was a “soft start,” meaning the parents would hang out with the kids for an hour, then we’d take them home and release the hounds fully the next day.  But Miss P?  She didn’t want us to stick around.  Miss Independent.  Sure, I wanted to pull my hair out when she was an infant and displayed super-early separation anxiety, but my pediatrician gave me hope that she’d grow out of it sooner than most kids.  Boy was he right.  Her first day of school, she took off like a rocket, plunging herself in to the room and getting right to work on the wooden kitchen.  I still can’t tell how she likes it or what she’s doing, as every question asked to her in the afternoon about her day gets met with a “I don’t know.”  So far, she hasn’t asked NOT to go, so I’ll take that as a sign that things are going well. 

The hardest change has been the mornings.  Last year we lived 5 minutes from school that started at 9am.  This year, we’re a good 30min drive with morning traffic to get there at 8am.  That means leaving at 7:30, getting the kids up at 6:30 (and for me, getting up at 6am).  Considering that towards the end of summer, we were waking up for the day at 7:30, it’s been rough.  The kids are used to lazy, leisurely mornings where they eat a long breakfast, lounge in their pajamas and play for a while before having to get ready to leave.  Now we’re speeding things along a bit. 

And one thing I’m not a fan of?  The drive.  I have one drop-off and two, TWO pick-ups.  Which means I’m in the car for 3 hours a day.  After a day or so of this, the kids got sick of listening to music and begged for my iPhone or something.  So we made a compromise and checked out some books-on-tape from the library.  Surprisingly, it’s been a big hit!  We’re already through two books and on to another. 

This idea should tide us over until I hit the lottery and can hire a chauffeur.