September 03, 2003 - 9:26 a.m.

Back To School

Today is the first day of school for the girls. B doesn't start at his Montessori school until Friday. More importantly, it is M's first day at the elementary school. She starts first grade today! She has been pretty nervous about it, but seemed okay, if not excited, this morning. It's weird for her to be starting off at a new school with a new teacher and an almost entirely unfamiliar group of kids. Since she went to Montessori preschool and stayed through her kindergarten year, she has been at the same school in the same classroom for the past 4 years. She did have to adjust to a new teacher during that time, but there were familiar kids and surroundings every fall. So, this is a big step for her.

Luckily, she is totally prepared. She is a smart kid, and the Montessori method served her well. She can already read simple chapter books and is great at addition and subtraction. Plus, H adores the school and loved first grade, so M has her example to reassure her a bit. Nonetheless, M is a bit shy at first in any new situation, so we are a bit worried about her. She also is prone to bathroom accidents, probably both due to anxiety and being too shy to ask to go to the restroom. We all hope it won't be a problem, but suspect that the first few weeks of school may entail making sure she has a change of clothes on hand. Once she settles in, though, I know she will be fine. She loves learning, gets along extremely well with other kids, and is basically a sweet, thoughtful, and helpful child.

It's a little weird to see her off to "big kid school". When I first started with the family, H was just beginning first grade. Now it is M's turn, which is a bit bittersweet. All three kids have grown up so much!

This school year is going to be different in a lot of ways. The kids' school schedules are similar to last year - the girls are in school all day and B just in the morning. But this year, with both girls at the same school, I only have two pickup routines. I'll pick up B from preschool at noon, and then we are free until we pick up the girls or meet them at the bus stop. That simplifies my life a bit, and greatly decreases my time in the car, since I don't have to make two separate trips to the Montessori school to pick up the kids.

The biggest change, though, is probably that B is no longer napping in the afternoon. That gives me less free time, but it also gives us much more flexibility. Now, after I pick him up from school, we can actually do fun things. We can get together with his classmates, have picnic lunches, go to the playground, go to story time, visit museums, etc. The options are almost endless. It will also make it much easier to schedule playdates. I'll have to adjust to the new routine (no more quite lunches while he's napping, for instance), but I think it will be a good change.

So, here's to back to school! Maybe I will actually be able to get back into a gym routine once all three kids are at school in the morning. Hooray!

today's project:coping with the excitement and anxiety of the first day of school

musing about: not having to work a full 11.5 hour day!

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flutter back - fly ahead