First Day of School

Once again, the first day of school and all of the jitters that go along with it, has come and gone. Will started the migration on August 27th. He entered the First Grade with Mrs. White. Only one of his Kindergarten friends is in the class. This doesn't seem to bother him or affect his excitement about starting a new year. I, however, am not as laid back about this new situation. My initial vibe about Mrs. White and the new class is one of hesitation and concern. I will give it time, but have to admit that I am anxious to get volunteering in that classroom! Watch out, Mrs. White, I will be watching you!

Will eats the traditional first-day-of-school meal, green eggs and ham.

Will hams it up with Emma and Jack.

Next, Emma started her Kindergarten readiness preschool program on September 4th. The girl was all smiles from the minute she woke up. It took some talking to get her to accept the fact that she would not yet be attending Kindergarten at Shady Grove. Then, we had to help her understand that Ms. Neva would not be her teacher this year even though she is at the same school. Phew! Then came Open House. We met Ms. Bonnie, her new teacher, who seems wonderful and very loving. The real kicker is that the class is FULL of boys. Other than Emma, there is only one other girl. Thankfully, this little girl is sweet as pie and believe it or not, smaller than Emma! Emma is actually the youngest in the class as the other children all turned 5 over the summer. This should prove to be an interesting school year! Emma will go to school, Monday through Thursday, for 3 hours a day.

Jack is so excited about this first-day-of-school thing that he has to practice wearing his backpack.

The day after Emma started, Jack had his first day of Mother's Morning Out. He goes for 3 hours, one day a week at the same school that Emma attends. Everything was excitement and happiness for Jack that morning. He even went right into his room and got down to the business of playing. I headed out and according to Miss Kissy, his teacher, he burst into tears as soon as he noticed that I wasn't there. He shed tears off and on for the rest of the day. He just wasn't fond of the fact that I wasn't there with him. He kept calling for me, cry and then get back to playing. When he finally got home, he told me that Miss Kissy hugged him, they rode bikes, they played outside and they painted. After conferring with the teacher, I found all of this information to be correct. Not bad for a 2 year-old!

I just love this picture!

Can you tell Emma adores her little brother?!

All in all, the first days went well. Everyone remained happy, we slipped back into the routine without a hitch and life is good! The big question everyone has now is: "what are you doing with your time when all three are in school?!" So far, I have managed to run errands and make appointments. I actually made it in and out of the grocery store in 10 minutes! That hasn't happened since before having children! I also have listened to NPR and a classic rock station while driving home from dropping the kids off. I actually felt like I was back in high school during a couple songs! Parking the minivan brought me back to reality though.

I have grand plans of doing my fall housecleaning without stopping 106 times within an hour, going to the dentist alone, going to my "annual exam" ALONE, getting my hair cut alone and maybe even trying some beautification/pampering. I also plan to volunteer at Will's school on the days that I don't have something scheduled. Hmmmm......we're 3 weeks into this and I haven't done any of these things yet. Stay tuned to see what actually happens during my "alone time".