school – The Nearest Future

First Day of Kindergarten!

Today was Mimi’s first day of kindergarten! She’s been a little nervous and has had lots of questions, mostly about if she’ll make friends and whether the kids will like her.

The day we got her new backpack she spent 15 minutes trying it on and practicing her “nice smile” in the mirror. She wanted to make sure the kids at Kindergarten “won’t be scared” and would know she’s friendly.

(That sound you hear is my heart breaking a little-oof.)

But this morning as I snapped a few pictures of her before we headed to school she struck this pose and declared, “I’m a super hero!”

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The extra-wide stance cracks me up but I couldn’t agree with her more. All the heart-eyes.

Normally our carpool will drop the kids off in the morning but today I walked her into school. She didn’t cry at all and neither did I. We were both troopers 😉

She came home happy and looking forward to going back. I’m so proud of her.

E Starts 3rd Grade

We sent E off to his first day of 3rd grade today! He had mixed feelings about going back to school (mostly concerns about how it would impact his computer game time, ha).

But fortunately he came home from school happy about seeing his friends and excited about his class. We’ve had a great summer but to be honest I’m really looking forward to getting into our school year groove. Our schedule feels like an advance level of Tetris and I kind of wish I could skip ahead to the end of September when I have everything fit into place.

The most exciting aspect of this year is that Mimi is starting kindergarten. *gulp* It starts next Monday and both her and I have COMPLICATED FEELINGS.

Compared with the thought of sending Mimi off, today with E was pretty low-key. He’s been at his school since kindergarten and we all love it.

I’m looking forward to a great year with our smart, quirky, funny, enthusiastic third-grader 🙂

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First Day of School

E and Mimi started school last week. E came home happy from the first day of second grade and excitedly told us how his teacher, Mr. Mac, told the kids that they don’t have to raise their hand to go get a drink of water OR to go to the bathroom. The heady privileges of being a second-grader! 🙂

Sweet Mimi is attending the same wonderful preschool that she went to last year but now she is going 3 days a week instead of 2. This year we are carpooling with her best friend Eva and listening to their conversations in the car is turning out to be a real highlight for me. So adorable!

(Last year’s pictures here.)

I’m looking forward to nailing down my schedule and getting into a routine. We came home from spending a few weeks up in WA with family right before school started so I feel a little bit discombobulated (and behind on laundry, as ever). But I took a lot of photos while we were out of town and will try to post them soon!

Room Mom

I don’t want to jinx it–but I think I have finally gotten my feet under me (phew!) The first month of school was crazy but I mostly have myself to blame. When we attended back-to-school night I noticed that there were two slots for people to sign up at room parents for E’s class. I had already signed up to help in the classroom and for class parties but it was later in the day and no one had signed up to be room parent yet so I put my name down for one of the spots WHICH I HAVE COME TO REGRET.

No one else signed up, so it’s just me being Room Mom. I think I’ve spent over 6 hours since school started writing and responding emails, creating spreadsheets to coordinate volunteers’ schedules, creating a calendar, attending meetings, emailing parents to get volunteers for the school carnival, emailing parents AGAIN to beg them to hep with the carnival because no one volunteered, etc…ugh.

But things seemed to have calmed down and in October the only thing I need to plan is the class Halloween party which shouldn’t be too bad. On the positive side, being Room Mom means that I have a fairly good idea of what’s going on it the classroom which is nice. E’s teacher is awesome–a fun, chill-but-firm man who has been teaching for 30 years. I was worried about E’s transition to all-day school but he has been doing well. I think/hope he’s going to have a great year.

First Day of School

Today was a big day around here–E’s first day of 1st grade (all-day school–ack!) and Mimi’s first day of preschool.

Today has been all over the place, emotionally. I often have trouble sleeping the night before a change in my routine and this morning I bolted wide awake at 4am, 5am, and then again at 6:10am, scared that I had missed my alarm and overslept. It was my first day driving a carpool to E’s school and I was nervous about being late to pick up the other kids.

E came home from school and told me about his new class. He said that he sat by a girl named Savannah and mentioned offhand that she called him “honey” and blew kisses at him and that they are BFLs (best friends for life). I think E is most excited that his classroom has computers in it which he can’t wait to use. I wonder if they get to play The Oregon Trail in first grade.

Mimi has been looking forward to going to school for the past year. She loves hanging out with other kids and has always been fairly independent so I knew she would have a fun time at preschool. As soon as we got to the classroom she went right in and started playing toys without even a backward glance.

I started to get a little bit sentimental and mopey about my babies growing up so quickly but then I went home and read a novel while I ate my lunch in blissful peace and somehow I cheered right up 😉

Good-bye Kindergarten!

E’s first ride on a school bus (to Farm Country)

Today is E’s last day of kindergarten! It has been gratifying to see his growth this last year. Even though E had previously attended preschool, going to kindergarten expanded his world in a major way.

I’ve experienced few things as simultaneously amusing and heart-wrenching as listening to my firstborn report on the social dynamics of kindergarten as we drive home from school. Sometimes when I watch him navigate through this larger world he seems so small in comparison.

E back on the first day of kindergarten

There were lots of special events this last week of school. On Tuesday, Mimi and I tagged along with E’s class when they walked to a park for a picnic and the next day I helped chaperon the field trip to Farm Country.

The three kindergarten classes at the school all went together so there were over 75 kids. I was in charge of a group of 6 (plus Mimi who I brought with me) and wrangling those kids was STRESSFUL! Because there’s a uniform at E’s school it was difficult to keep track of my group of kids when they were mixed in with 75 other identically-dressed kids running all over the place. I was sooo relieved when it was time to hand those kids over at the end of the trip 🙂

Kindergarten was wonderful for E but we are excited for summer vacation. The kids and I are ready to sleep in a bit (no more setting an alarm for 6:15am!) and to have some summer adventures!