Today was completely anti-climactic.
This year, we’ve got one daughter starting 8th grade, another starting 5th grade, and the youngest hits the milestone of kindergarten. For the first time in 13 years, we will not have a preschooler in the house! We’ve looked forward with joy to the start of this school year.
But then last night, Talli got invited to spend the night at a friend’s house. We didn’t even see her off to school today. Aubrey’s kindergarten brings the kids in a few at a time over the first few days, so she won’t even go until tomorrow, and that’s only for an hour. So all we had was Hayley, still recovering from the India trip and NOT excited about school.
Day 1 went ok for the older two. My first day of fifth grade far exceeded Hayley’s first day. Fifth grade was when I switched from a Christian school to a public school, and I LOVED Brook Knoll elementary. They had math packets, and they let you go as fast as you wanted!!
But Talli’s first day of eighth grade far exceeded mine. We had just moved (literally) to Oregon. My dad took me to school from Portland, where we were staying at my uncle and aunt’s, and I came home on the bus to our new house where the moving truck was literally still moving in furniture. That was back in the pre-MTV days, when fashions and slang were more regionalized than our nationwide culture now. I was all decked out in Levi’s cords and Ocean Pacific/surfer inspired wear that was absolutely cool near Santa Cruz, California. I stuck out like a sore thumb among the San Francisco and Lawman jeans of suburban Oregon, and every time I opened my mouth, it seemed I said something ridiculous to their ears. That was a tough year of adjustment.
Aubrey is quite excited to start school…I hope she’ll love it. And I hope Elaine loves a quiet house for a few hours each day. 🙂
These first couple of days have been both agony and ecstasy for one of mine. The first day he came home with 2 hours worth of homework. By the end of the second day he was transfered to red school with his sister (thank you God in form of Todd) and now he’s in heaven. He still has tons of homework but he has friends to study with; friends who aren’t smoking marijuana and drinking with their parents and friends whose parents we have known since college or have trusted with our kids’ lives over the years. AW doesn’t ask for much and wouldn’t have complained but this is good, very good, for all of us. He was smiling and laughing again on the way home today. So was I.
I’m trying not to share my generally negative memories of fourth grade (new school, mean girls) with my older son.
But yay for kindergarten – Silas also started with a half day on Wednesday. His first reports were about the children who do or don’t speak Spanish in his class. And he showed remarkable improvement in hand washing technique! Yesterday he was excited to go back, this morning he didn’t want to. It’s a very long day for little ones here, six hours plus waiting another 45 minutes with me for his big brother to get out. But I am enjoying the peace and quiet at home. I think, besides blogging, I’m going to make an apple pie for tonight!