School Thoughts

Last night was back to school night at St. Michael's. A night I usually dread. And last night, I was especially dreading it because I was going solo as Dave was working in San Francisco (his company's offices are based in San Fran). I am easily overwhelmed by the number of people and the amount of effort that seemingly goes into the dress code for this rather uneventful night.

The night begins with an introduction from Father Porter and Mr. C (the principal), then the parents break up and spend about 20 minutes in the classrooms of each child.

The teachers introduce themselves, talk about the upcoming year and hand out a few papers with schedules, etc. In the packet of information that I received from Eden's teacher there was a great quote.

"I promise you every day your children will learn something. Some days they'll bring it home in their hands. Some days they'll bring it home in their heads. And some days they'll bring it home in their hears." Valerie Welk

Thank you Mrs. Elston - you made the whole night worthwhile for me.

Have a great long weekend.

Whirlwind(s)

So this morning I was pleasantly surprised when my kids, without having to be yanked from their beds at 7:00 a.m., bounded out of bed, into the showers and ate their breakfast so quickly, we made it to early school. (Note: We only make it to early school when I absolutely have to be at work on time, Dave is out of town and I have to get my workout done early in the morning because the evening is busy. And usually every minute of those mornings involves me talking in the upper ranges of my not-so-nice-voice, i.e. yelling.)

Why? Today was our last day of school for 2010-2011. I now have a fifth grader and two first graders. I did fine today. No tears were shed and I am looking forward to the next 90 days of summer (yes, we counted, exactly 90.) For perspective, here they are on the first day...



And the last day!



Tonight, as the girls were watching Tangled and Davis was at basketball practice, I started going through papers, art projects, journals, etc. I have neatly packed it all away in my 2010-2011 school year box. Now, I am sad. I don't want to believe that in ten years that box will be how I remember my daughters' kindergarten years, but it will be.



I caught myself describing the school year as a whirlwind. During lunch this afternoon, sitting down with some friends and their kids to celebrate the last day of school, we experienced a whirlwind of another sort, a tornado. I am happy to report that there was little to no damage done by this storm. Exactly, how I was feeling as I put the lid on the box and carried it to the basement - little to no damage.

I am ready!

Okay, all summer long, and especially for the last few weeks, I have been saying, and I believed it, that I wasn't ready for my kids to go back to school. I am going to be losing my twin daughters to kindergarten and that scares me. They are only five and they are my babies. That said...

Today, I decided I was ready. Is that bad? Does it make me a terrible, selfish parent? It isn't like my children are over demanding or bad. In fact, generally, they are extremely well-behaved. We have one more week. Unlike many schools in our area who started today, we are starting next Wednesday. I have to admit I was a little jealous watching all the moms and dads in our neighborhood walking their kids to school today. I have one more week, will we make it? Only if...

1. Eden stops the ridiculous whining she has become accustomed to the last few weeks. I know, she is the sensitive one, and I try to be sensitive to that, but does that mean it is okay for her to break down into complete tears because her mean mother made her go back inside and put shoes on to ride her bike? Wow!

2. Clara can accept the fact that watching Disney channel downstairs and a DVD in our room is not something any one person can actually do at one time. And no, I will not put two TVs next to each other! I must be the worst mother ever.

3. Davis acknowledges that the summer of 2010 can probably be renamed in our books as the "Summer of Davis" and take 45 minutes out of his day to sit and wait for his sisters to get haircuts, and, no, you can't bring your DS. Read a book. Which we did. He only complained twice. But the worst was the trip to grocery store after the haircuts. I have never heard a child say, "I am bored" so many times. What I wanted to say, but didn't, was, something along the lines of how riveting grocery shopping is for me. Oh well.

I'm ready...I think!