Back to school 2013

This week marked the end of a twelve-year era for me. I am no longer a mother of a preschooler.  Weird. So weird. I really loved that role. I had such a great time being home with my kids during the day. Playgroups, storytimes, museums. And now I'm just home during the day. With no kids. It's so quiet. It's going to take some getting used to.

But, like it or not, school started.  And off they went!

Caroline started kindergarten!

She was SOOO excited.
(If you can't tell from the look on her face!)
"Bye, Mom!  I'm off to rock school to pieces!"

I'm so glad she has her big sis to show her the ropes.

 She didn't hesitate for a minute when it time
to head in to class.  Such a big girl!

She has a young teacher (her 2nd year teaching)
who seems really nice. Caroline loves her so far.

She won me over last week when she called home with GOOD NEWS. That has never happened! If a call comes from the school during the day, my stomach always sinks. So it was a great surprise when she called to let Caroline tell me that she had "outstanding" behavior that day. Awesome!!

Whit started 4th grade.
One of my favorite grades.

 She loves school and was ready to go back.

The good news is...

she got her BFF's mom as a teacher!
We were so excited!
The bad news...her BFF is not in her class.
But at least we can easily set up playdates!

The other good news is...

she is back with her very favorite teacher's assistant!
These two have been together for 4 of Whitney's 5 years of school.
Love her.

Brandon started 7th grade.

He was the only child NOT excited for school to start.
He would apparently be happy with an endless summer break.
He loves his Language Arts and Social Studies teacher.
And has some complaints about his Math and Science teacher.
(He says she's a yeller...all the time.)
But he's hanging in there.

His middle school got a tablet grant this year, so all of their work will be done on tablet computers. No textbooks and very little paper. It sounds pretty cool and I hope in practice it goes well.

A lot of people ask me what I'm going to do with all of my free time. My big goal is to finish my degree!  I'm still plugging along and have about a year and a half to finish up 14 credits.  Yikes. It's doable, but I *will* have to invest a big chunk of my time on it. I'm still playing on my neighborhood tennis team once a week. I hope to volunteer in all of the kids' classrooms. Add in laundry, shopping, and keeping the house from getting too terribly messy.  I think I'm going to be as busy as ever.

My first day home was terribly lonely.  I didn't have any plans that day. I got a lot of studying down and some things around the house. But I felt lost.

 I couldn't wait for the bus to get home.

My melancholy passed quickly. The rest of the week I had things planned:  tennis boot camp, watching my friends' kids, visiting teaching, lunch dates.  OK, maybe this next phase of life is not going to be so bad.

I could get used to meeting this good-looking guy for lunch

more regularly. And going to restaurants that don't serve chicken nuggets.