Back to School

The summer break is officially over for us.  School started today for Cat (4th Grade) and Jack (1st Grade), and Eliza will begin Pre-K next week.

All three kids met their teachers last week at their Back to School nights (both schools held their B2S on the same night, and at different times, conveniently.)  Eliza was the most excited of all three kids.  She will be in the same classroom and with the same teacher Jack had in Pre-K two years ago.  She used to cry when we dropped Jack off and she had to leave.  She is thrilled to get to experience all of the cool things the students do.  At B2S she wasted no time putting on dress-up, exploring the play house, and playing with toys.  Not surprisingly, she didn't want to leave at the end.  And she was pretty upset that she would have to wait so long to start school.

Jack got right to work in his old classroom.

Cat felt at home too.

We had just enough time to go home and eat dinner before leaving again to go to Cat and Jack's school.  Jack pouted for the first 20 minutes because we made him stay in the gym with us and listen to the director's presentation instead of letting him play on the playground.  Did I mention that the thing he's most excited about this year is that he gets THREE recesses?  Poor kindergarteners (who only go to school for 3 hours) only had one.  We found out last week that Jack has the same teacher as last year.  He seemed indifferent to the idea, but I think it could be good for him.

Cat didn't get the teacher she was hoping for, but we've heard lots of good things about Mrs. M.  Mrs. M. had a fun mustache theme to her classroom and all of the kids had their picture taken with a hat and mustache during B2S.

Both kids were looking forward to school starting today.  Jack told me last night that he was a little nervous, but also really excited about all of the recess time he would have.  Cat was so psyched she had trouble falling asleep last night.

Off they go!

Let the school day(s) begin.

Two happy kids after school.

The day went well for both of them.  Cat found out that she only gets TWO recesses now, which was disappointing, but she's excited to get to switch classes for science and social studies this year.  In previous years she's only switched for reading, spelling, and math.  Cat said her teacher is very organized, she found out that her good friend from school is in her class, and she thinks she would like to run for a position on student council.

Jack loved that he got to be a part of carpool at the beginning and the end of the day, like all the big kids, and of course he loved all of the recesses.  He said they read books and had music time today, and apparently he only ate about 8 bites of real food from his lunch, plus all of the first day treats I gave him, and some intended for Cat which she thought she needed to share with him.  He threw away the rest of his lunch.  Tomorrow I think I'll send him with a couple of pretzels and a carrot stick.

I really haven't been looking forward to school starting - getting back into the rush rush rush of the after school hours.  During the school year I always feel so pressed to get snack, homework, piano, extra activities, dinner, clean-up, bedtime, and everything else done between 3:30 and 8pm.  I hate that.  But today went smoothly, so I feel a little better for tomorrow.  Wish me luck when the homework starts rolling in.

2014-2015, bring it on!