We are into the second week of school and I feel that we have a rhythm going. I wasn’t dreading the start of school like I did last year. I think that came with the familiarity of the teachers we were assigned. We’ve had each teacher in the past so I felt prepared and confident knowing what to expect. If you can imagine I felt prepared to send the littlest off to kindergarten. I think all my anxieties and stress subsided once I found out she was going to be in my boys’ kindergarten teacher’s class. It would be home for her. In fact the moment I told her that Ms Brown was her teacher, she looked at me and asked me ‘how many minutes til the first day of school?’
And sure enough my littlest was ready as can be. In fact I did my first pre first day of school ironing for her. She insisted her shirt not be wrinkly for school. Which is funny because if I could get the boys just to wear CLEAN shirts I would be thrilled. She definitely is the tiniest of the class, but I expected that. I shed only a few tears and there was no sobbing, no sunglasses needed. I was strong and I’m proud of that. I miss her for sure, but I still miss my boys. All day is a long time to be gone from them, but each day I get to pick them up, I see their smiles and listen to them talk over one another to tell me all about their day. I love to hear who was a good listener and who wasn’t. Who got their name on the board and who was caught being good. Two days already my Soso was caught being good and came home with prizes. You can’t help but love that boy and his teacher once again has fallen for his sweet ways. I love to hear who is ahead on table points and who shared their lunch with who.
On the first day my sweet Grets ran up to hold the hand of a little girl who was crying. Yes, she was the one doing the comforting. Her dad’s heart melted and he came over to thank me for having such a kind girl. Gunnar is in 4th grade now so he lines up in a different section just for 4th and 5th graders. THAT was hard to get used to. Seeing my boy with the oldest kids of the school. His lunch is now with 5th graders. Hold me. I’ve already been in his class once to organize some books for the teacher and I love getting to overhear him in language arts. I love listening to the idioms he comes up with and I even like listening to when he gets busted for writing a note to his friend. Somehow his teacher hasn’t realized that you can’t let these kids choose their own seats. I wonder how long that will last before he is banished to another table for his chattiness.
My life has been at the school quite a bit these last few days, but I don’t mind. It’s where all my kids are, it’s where I want to be too. Don’t get me wrong, I have enjoyed the peace and quiet, I have enjoyed having laundry done before they get home, I have enjoyed even cleaning, but I don’t mind being at the school if a teacher needs an hour’s worth of copying done, or if one teacher needs their entire reading library organized into genres and color coded in bins. Or if the kindergarten yard needs some love and attention. In fact my whole schedule and routine has changed since this first day of school. Before, Aaron used to be in charge of the boys, and I was in charge of Greta. Except for Tuesdays when I had all 3. That included Aaron making their lunches, getting them fed breakfast and taking them to school. And me doing the same for Greta. But now that all 3 are going to the same place, all 5 of us spend our mornings together. We all wake up together, we eat an actual breakfast now, you want eggs? you get eggs. you want toast with egg in a whole? that’s what you get. we still do cereal and milk once in awhile, but we actually have a real family breakfast. We pack the lunches altogether, and get this: both Aaron and I take them to school together. I didn’t know how much the kids would love that until now. They absolutely adore having BOTH mom and dad there to see them off.
We hang around at the school together and make sure everyone is where they need to be. There’s no dropping them off in a hurry to get another one to a different school. And it’s good for Aaron and I. I know it probably is more practical for just one of us to take them and then the other one can get stuff done, but it’s so nice to do it together. So far it’s been every day and I hope it continues as long as we can make it happen. But with this new routine has me heading to bed like a granny! I cannot keep my eyes open past 10:30. I mean I have tried to stay up til 11pm, but I’m pretty delirious at that point. The kids too have a new routine and lights are out at 7:30. Yep, 7:30. For all 3. And they sleep hard let me tell you. They don’t stir until the next morning, where the 3 of them wake up anywhere between 6:50-7:20. And I can’t remember the last time I was out the door fully dressed with mascara on and a bra in a long time. I don’t have to come home after I take the kids to school but I usually do. But it’s great to be ready to go if I have to that early in the morning.
Now, for some photos of their first day of school all together.
The FAQ page is really informative and they have a link to sign ups for interested parents. It’s purely lottery to get into the school, but they have a very progressive goal of immense diversity both racially and socio-economically. I’m most impressed in their extremely low teacher student ratio. And for their language program the choices will be languages which include Mandarin, Korean, French, etc. They are planning on having a gardening program which thrills me. It’s one the neatest parts of my kids’ elementary school and I would be so sad to see that end once they graduate. Also, for the high school they are planning on having the option of Early College. Aaron took part in this where he went to school. Starting in 11th grade you have the option of being part of a group that goes to a local college for your classes. So once you graduate you have credits, or even a year or two under your belt. They also will offer AP classes, which was more my high school experience. I’m so proud to be a part of this. If you can’t tell. 
