The girls-both of them-started school this week. Gillian in Kindergarten and Addie in pre-K. To say it was rough going is an understatement. To say I question every day whether or not Addie should be starting such long days (8a-5p) is also an understatement.
We talked things up to Addie and she did great Monday and Tuesday-it took her until Wednesday to join in the Chorus of Wailing at drop off. They had to pull her off of us Wednesday, and Thursday, and Friday. It feels inherently wrong to let that be how the morning starts for everyone, but I know she has to get used to a new situation. The girls are at aftercare for two hours after school three days a week, together (PreK and K are in the same part of the school), which is awesome. Tuesdays they have piano and Wednesdays I pick them up, so no aftercare. We're trying to have a balance, at least.
On the first day, Gillian looked so grown up in her uniform. She looked a little nervous, but was brave and filed into class with her teachers. Her teacher is a favorite among parents and kids I have met who are older, and was the one who conducted her assessment in 2011 for kindergarten readiness. This makes me happy because: 1) She is a child development specialist; and 2) If Gillian is a pain (because she's a HUGE know-it-all), then the teacher should have to deal with that because she's the one who suggested Gillian wasn't socially quite ready to start kindergarten last year. For example, at orientation, the teacher read the book The Kissing Hand and got to the part where Chester goes to school. At that part of the book the little animals are heading to a big oak tree for class and it was nighttime (because he's a raccoon) and she said "some animals are awake at night and sleep during the day". To this Gillian chimed in "yes, because Chester is NOCTURNAL". Good luck, lady.
Addie, on the first day, thought this was pretty cool. She thought her doggie backpack was cool, that she was pretty awesome for being *So.Big*, and that she could go with Gillian to school. She couldn't even be bothered to turn around and give me a kiss as she hurried in the door. By Day 3, the novelty had worn off, and it occurred to her that this wasn't just a fun activity-it was THE NEW ROUTINE. Every Day. Plus, everyone else was a crying mess, so that must be the thing to do. Maybe it was because I was the one that took her. Who knows. It just wasn't good. One redeeming thing about the whole setup is that the child we shared Anna's care with is in her class (his mom and I requested that) so they have each other as familiar faces in a sea of Newness. This week, she cried the first two days, but not the last two. Maybe she's getting to be ok with this whole school thing now.
As for me-well, I have been taking Wednesdays off since Gillian was born (to try to minimize the number of days we went without nursing all day), and work 4 days that, with commute (including morning exercise), are 12.5 hours start to finish. I know it seems silly, but I am so excited about what I will do with those 8 hours between dropping the girls off and picking them up on Wednesdays. I'll be able to do school activities with the kids without taking annual leave, I'll be able to blog more, to do art more, to pick up music again... I am finally rebounding from using all my annual leave when Addie was born. Not going into a whole other topic, I can't imagine us starting over again with a baby. We have gotten to a logistically and financially easier place (the nanny cost way more than the private school tuition), and we all get to sleep through the night. That is heaven.
So, my babies aren't babies anymore. Which makes me want to weep and do a happy dance at the same time. I wouldn't change a thing-life is settling down (read-the house is no longer in disaster cleanup mode) after a Very Eventful Summer (and by eventful, I mean very disruptive, which is another post). We have a nice routine these days, and it will get nicer the more worn in it gets.
0 comments:
Post a Comment