Back to School

Despite the heat and humidity, the calendar insists that fall is here, and with that comes another year of school.

LOGAN

Logan is a big first grader this year and is taking pride in showing his brother the ropes. He's rather bossy in these types of situations, saying things like, "Gavin, you can't just always have mom open your yogurt for you. You're in kindergarten now" and "You have to learn to tie your shoes. Only preschoolers get their shoes tied for them and Mrs. Zetrouer will only tie your shoes until January". He's the big man on campus (or so he thought until I dropped him off by himself in the media center yesterday). He puffed out his chest and hardly said goodbye to me, but I saw a flicker of hesitation behind his eyes. Somehow I thought my tears and worries would be reserved for my upcoming kindergartener, but I guess not. I realize now that every year is a new year -- filled with the unknown (Will his teacher like him? -- I hope so) and the unexpected (How did he get into a class where he only knows one kid from last year? And that boy has special needs and behavioral issues. Oh well, he'll be fine).

GAVIN

First day of kindergarten! A new school, new lunch box, new backpack, and (hopefully) new friends. Again, I thought it would be easier this time around, but I still found myself tearing up inside and out. We are more than thrilled to have Logan's teacher from last year, however, so I feel like we know what to expect. And Gavin will proudly tell anyone who will listen that he is sitting in his brother's kindergarten desk. I had the opportunity to speak at the Dragon's Den TaeKwonDo pep rally this past week. Though I had planned on discussing something else entirely (working hard, being a good learner, blah, blah, blah), Gavin said something to me that changed my mind about what I would say to this group of students. He said, "Mom, I'm really excited in my stomach about starting school, but I'm also really scared". And it occurred to me that we teach our children to be excited about the upcoming year, but we sometimes forget to acknowledge their other feelings...the ones the mothers and fathers try to hold onto themselves. The feeling of worry, of dread, of nervousness, of anxiety. So I chose to talk to this group about those feelings and (hopefully) teach them a little bit about how to cope with that. It worked with Gavin...sorta.

KEEGAN

After several days of shadowing with mom and dad, Keegan's first day of preschool finally arrived. He's going to a little school next door to the elementary school and we are quite pleased so far. If you know me, you know that I'm a stickler when it comes to a good day care. They are few and far between and I have yet to find one in town that I like. Having years of experience either working in day cares and/or with day care employees, I am usually less than impressed by the facilities, directors, and ultimately the employees themselves. Keegan spent some time crying (which I would expect), but seemed to have a good day overall. And he (thankfully) did not refuse to go back again this morning. It's just going to take a little getting used to as we are all still missing having Ashley in our lives (Hi Ashley!). I told Jay that when I picked Keegan up yesterday and he saw me walking towards him, it was kind of the reaction I would expect if I had been in the military, stationed overseas, and was just getting off the plane to see my children again. He ran towards me crying, shaking and yelling my name, which of course opened my flood gates as well, and I was a blubbering mess as I attempted to sign him out for the day.

All in all, we had a great first day. I cried and lost sleep so no one else would have to. Looking forward to doing it again tomorrow (minus the crying -- I don't have waterproof mascara), but looking forward to the weekend even more.