Back to School

Well, only two weeks late, I thought I should mention the start of the school year.  One of the drawbacks of having a blog is that it provides your kids with tangible, documented evidence on the injustice of life as a sibling.  Charlotte will one day be able to look at this post and say, "Well, obviously I'm not the favorite!  You didn't even bother to mention my first day of Kindergarten until it was old news.  You waxed nostalgic and did everything short of writing a sonnet when Caroline started!"

And she'll be partly right because Caroline's first days of Kindergarten were very well documented.  Maybe it will be a small consolation when I tell her that in many ways it was harder for me to let her go.  For no reason I can really put into words I sort of dreaded that first day of school, and not just because it meant we could no longer wear our pajamas until lunchtime if the mood struck us.  I was sad that she was leaving behind her preschool and Mrs. Legel.  I felt sad that she wouldn't be here to eat lunch with us.  I just couldn't get excited about her being gone all day, and it was the first and only time the word "homeschool" flitted around in my mind like a nervous butterfly.

Of course, how I felt about Charlotte starting Kindergarten is SO not the point of the story.  The story isn't about me at all.  The real story is about my girl, and how she LOVES Kindergarten.

Here she is the day before school started.  She got to meet her teacher and drop off her supplies and see her desk and cubby and mailbox.  She was a little quiet that day, but enthralled by it all.

 And here she is on the first day.  She walked into the classroom, hung up her bag, sat down at her desk and started coloring like she's been doing it all year long.  I had to ask her to stop so I could take a quick picture before we left.  Then I was telling her how her teacher would help her find her bus and that Caroline would sit with her when she said, "I know Mom.  You already told me.  It's okay if you go now." 

And you know what?  It is okay.  She's so ready for this new adventure that I might as well get on board with it.  Her teacher tells me she's doing great.  We know she's settling right in because she's already been warned about being too chatty with the neighbors at her table.

She comes home each afternoon brimming with joy to show us what she's done.  She's proud to have "homework".  She loved her first trip to library (she checked out a Curious George book for her brother).  She's a fan of eating lunch at school, especially using a quarter to buy a milk each day.  She adores music class, especially since they got to play instruments this week and they are learning a song about Yogi Bear.  She got to "move up to red" a couple times for extra good behavior, and both times she chose a tube of lotion from the prize bucket.  Obviously, her teacher speaks her language.

We also have a new third grader in our house.  She has literally "moved on up" to the second floor of the school, which is very thrilling when you are eight.  Also thrilling is the very official homework notebook you get as a third grader.  Bless her heart, Caroline could not get off the bus fast enough on that first day to show me her notebook.

The principal has given her the job of returning the lunch boxes to the second floor after lunch each day, which requires her to use the elevator "By myself, with no grown-ups, Mom!"  It is one of the highlights of her young life. 

On the downside, Caroline had the same teacher and classmates for both first and second grade, so there's been some sadness for her at those changes.  My girl is one to get attached, and there is a lot of adjusting to do this year.  It also seems that third grade has a new level of expectations when it comes to homework and responsibility.  We've said lots of prayers together and had lots of long talks, and I know she's going to do just fine.

So, there we are.  Oh, these kids of ours.....It's so hard to watch them go, but so amazing to see what they can do.