First Day of School

As quickly as the summer went, it's now time for school again! (Side note here.... I'm glad to say this summer went much better than last summer. Last year I was nearly ready to go to an insane asylum, this year, things went much smoother. Hooray!)

This year Karis is in first grade and the boys are in second. And this is the first year we are putting the boys in separate classrooms. We felt they were ready... and they told us they wanted to separate, too. Sooo, how'd it go??

Monday was the first day of school as well as the boys' birthday. Now they were quite thrilled to have their birthday land on the first day of school. (I'm guessing that excitement will pass in the coming years.) Being the first day, I SO didn't want to be all rushed and hurrying around, as is my tendency. So I was up at 5:45, put some coffee cake in the oven, then got myself ready before the kids got up. By 6:40, Nate was up and at 'em. He was completely dressed and tying his shoes at 6:50. (He didn't need to be ready until 7:50!!) Having him ready so early was quite nice. I got Ben and Karis up, they dressed, then we had a special first day of school/birthday breakfast with candles in the coffee cake. Everyone was ready in plenty of time for pictures out on the deck at 7:50. Then on to school for a last round of pictures.

We were outside the school taking a shot of the kids under the Sutton Elementary sign when a bus arrived and unloaded a bunch of kids. Oh my, you should have seen Karis' face! Seeing all of those kids made her face light up. That's our little social bug. :) After I snapped the pictures and we were heading into the school, she just took off and I had to basically chase after her just to say goodbye! The boys, on the other hand, didn't want to go out to the playground with the other kids like their sister - they wanted to wait inside the classroom. So I brought Nate to his class first. Another mom and a couple of kids were in there, so we got Nate's backpack put away and he just waited the final few minutes until the bell rang. You could tell he was a little nervous, but also very excited. Then on to Ben's room. No other moms or kids were in there - just his teacher. (He was SO excited this year to have a male teacher... and his name happens to be Mr. Friesen!) I explained to Mr. Friesen that Ben wanted to wait inside until the bell rang, and he said that was just fine. There was only a minute or two left by this point, so I knew he'd be okay. But seeing Ben standing at his desk looking very nervous and even forlorn, made it a little hard for me as a mom to leave him. But you do what you must do... I left.

Later in the afternoon I brought the boys' birthday snacks for their classes. I went to Ben's room first and the kids were still out at recess. So I spoke to his teacher for a minute and asked how Ben was doing. He said he had been quiet - which I said was understandable and even expected. But he also said he was doing fine. So, a bit of a relief on my end to hear that. Then onto Nate's room where the kids were just coming in from recess. I found Nate and showed him the treats, told him how many of each thing to give each kid, etc. He seemed to be doing great and having a fun time. That was so good to see!

I went back home to wait the final hour and a half until the munchkins walked home from the bus. And seeing them walking back was interesting. The boys were walking together. Ben was almost skipping! They were talking a mile a minute and looked very happy and excited. Karis was lagging farther behind, walking by herself. When the boys got to the door, they just couldn't stop talking. I interrupted them to tell them that we'd get a snack and sit at the table and take turns talking about each child's day. So when Karis got in and we were settled at the table, I told Karis she could start since the boys already hadn't given her much time to talk. But... she still wasn't talking. I was asking all kinds of questions and she was all, "I don't know", or "I can't remember." I asked if she'd had a bad day... and she said, "No. It was just boring." What?! Who's first day of the first grade is boring? (Later I asked her best friend who's also in the class how her day had gone, and she said it was great.) My only guess is that they went over a bunch of rules and guidelines and such, and also that there wasn't as much "social interacting" time as my dear daughter would prefer. I know she'll do fine. Just had hoped there was more excitement there.

The boys, on the other hand, were all about excitement. They kept interrupting each other and talking about their days. It was fun. :) And Ben, who I'd been most concerned about, said his day was great! Just what I wanted to hear. :)

So, in all, it was a fun and successful first day of school. And I didn't even shed a tear.

Here they are on our back deck, ready to head to school....

Nate, Karis and Ben


Nate... (tilting his head in a similar way as he did last year!!)


Ben... (you can see the nervousness!)


and Karis...


Then all of them for a quick shot in front of the school sign...