First Day of School

So I guess it's official. Nursery school days are gone. As of yesterday, Joshua was a big K4 kid! He looked so grown up to me yesterday with his loaded backpack and brand new sneakers. He picked the shark shirt just for the occasion.

I know that this isn't about me....at all....but since I'm the one writing this, I feel like I have the right to tell you. I wondered yesterday just how many different "new normal" routines you have to come up with before you're in a pattern that is going to last a while? For the past year I feel like I've been doing nothing more than tweaking a routine, only to get settled into it and then need to tweak it again. For example---- I was home with the kids from October to January. That was new. Then in January, I had to adjust to getting back to the office and being away from the kids. While nursing exclusively. That was a biggie for me. In February, we added a layer by sending Joshua to Nursery School three afternoons a week. That meant pick-up and drop-off at school around Lauren's feeding/pumping schedule, on top of work schedule. Then came summer. Phew--- no more school picking up and delivering. Now yesterday we adjusted, yet again, to a MORNING school routine 5 days a week. Jason is doing drop off at school on his way to work, and I just need to get up there each morning at 11 to pick up our little buddy and take him home to Grandma and Lauren. I consider it a blessing (a gift really) that Lauren seems to want to eat around that time, so I'm significantly limiting pumping in favor of actually nursing her when I come home with Joshua.

I think yesterday went about as well as it could have for Joshua. Drop off was painless and smooth. Jason said that he went right to his seat and got started on his activity while the others were arriving. He said he was a little overwhelmed, but didn't melt into a puddle of tears. And with Joshua, that's a victory...a major one. When I got there to get him, he was seated quietly with his backpack on, and when Mrs. Deitrick called his name he came running to give me a big hug. (Can't tell you how much I love that!) She said he had a good day. They had talked a good bit about school and how it works, Mrs. Deitrick's rules for behavior and had read some stories about going to school. He colored an apple for their apple tree and a yellow school bus. He chose orange juice as his drink for the day, but quickly declared that he didn't like it, so he won't be picking that again. He said he'll stick to white milk from now on. (Way to branch out, little man. Good effort.)

When I picked him up, I was given a homework assignment. Seriously! As if getting him up, dressed, fed and out the door by 7:45 wasn't enough. But I was asked to cut out the 16 little red apples for the classroom tree with the kids names on them. I was happy to help, but found it a little funny that MOM had homework on the first day.

The only hitch in the system yesterday was that Joshua's nose was running like a faucet when he came home yesterday at lunch time. That quickly escalated into a full fledged cold complete with fever, stuffy head and a cough by last evening. This morning, he was in rough shape. I hated not having him at school on the second day of class....I mean really, who is sick on the second day of school? But I thought about what I would want another mother to do if her child was the one who was spraying germs all over kingdom come. And I decided that I'd want her to keep her child at home to get better. So that's what we did. I let poor Joshua sleep it off a little and told him to take it easy today at home so that hopefully he can go back tomorrow. Our house has been sickness free since Easter, and whammo.....first day of school and we're nailed.

In case you're wondering, Jason went to the school this morning at 7:55 to drop off the 16 little (neatly cut-out) apples for the 8:00 start of K4. I felt a little like I used to in high school where it was your responsibility to get your assignment turned in even if you couldn't be in class.

--------------------------

And here are a few quick pictures of Lauren that I snapped yesterday morning when I was back to having only one child to take care of before getting out the door. I felt so free!

Lauren took every opportunity to play with every single one of Joshua's toys while he was gone at school. The theory of "when the cat's away, the mice will play" certainly held true. I could almost see her looking around waiting for him to swoop in out of the blue and yell at her for touching his things.

Tooth #4 is almost through her little top gums. Nothing like waiting 11 months to get teeth and then getting them all in the span of a week.