First Day of School

In honor of the first day of school I put a new ABC song in my tunes. I only just discovered it this week and I am LOVING it.


The first day of school was an exciting day indeed. The kids were excited and little bit nervous of course. I think they were most excited to wear their new shoes since I would have almost made them go barefoot rather than start wearing out the school shoes before school even started. I got tired of being asked if they could please just wear the new shoes. No (said with a smile of course). I know I can be a little weird about it. Kate got her hair cut on Monday night and insisted on bangs. These are her first ever bangs. We had a hard time keeping them out of her face for the picture. She says, "They are always in my face!" but secretly I know she likes them because she likes to hide behind them and pretend to be Violet (from The Incredibles). She's a funny girl!

I feel relieved to be locked into a schedule after an often crazy, sometimes lazy summer. A little bit of structure is very soothing to me. But I am a little sad that now we won't just up and leave on another adventure for a long while.

Nathanael didn't really start school this past Tuesday. Here in the great state of WA we are all about smooth transitions and helping everyone adjust and deal properly with the emotions they have. So to help our sweet children enter kindergarten without life-long damage to their still developing psyches we have what I fondly call a transition week. On Tuesday and Wednesday the kindergarten teachers held small conferences with four or five children and their parents lasting 30-45 minutes. The teacher gave us needed info and the kids did a few activities. Nathanael's conference was Tuesday. Then on Thursday and Friday only half of the class attends to allow the kids to settle into their new environment with a smaller group. Nathanael's day was Thursday. The parents are invited for a sweet story at the beginning and then it's time to say goodbye. After the story Nathanael was very matter of fact, "Well Mom, bye, see ya." No tears, not even a backward glance. However there were several kids having complete break downs and sobbing up a storm, poor things. Maybe those parents are nicer to their kids than I am to mine. All of our kids have been super excited for kindergarten. So Nathanael was bored silly Wednesday and Friday and was irritated that he wasn't riding the bus and going to school like Ethan and Kate. But Tuesday is just around the corner and he can't wait. Shhh, me either. I am looking forward to some quiet stillness in the mornings when I can have some one on one time with Eli.