1 Down, 179 To Go

The kids were really looking forward to school starting this year.  For Cat, the excitement originated from a natural love of all things school, combined with the fact that she would finally be in the oldest grade in the school.  For Jack and Eliza, I think the excitement was as much about the new playground equipment the school installed over the summer as it was about friends and teachers and, you know, learning.  As it happens, this is the only picture I took on Back to School Night: Eliza on one of the new pieces on the playground.

The kids' grades this year are 6th, 3rd, and 1st, which means that for the only time in our school experience, we have three children at the same school on the same schedule.  I'm trying to enjoy it as much as possible.

Cat has a new teacher in a brand-new classroom this year, and is really excited about everything.  Jack's and Eliza's teachers have been at the school for a while but they were really excited too.  Eliza's excitement even had an unusual manifestation.  She kept saying all morning, "My legs are wobbly!" and was giddy and giggly as she was getting ready for school on the first day.

The morning went pretty smoothly, and Cat even cooperated with my insistence on taking pictures, but I'm not sure how many more years of First Day of School Pictures I'll be able to get out of her.

Cat and Jack both had great things to report on the first day, but Eliza, who had been so thrilled to get started with 1st grade, had a really bad first day.  She was actually almost angry when she got in the car and burst out with, "My teacher is so stubborn!"  It sounded like the teacher was just trying to establish what the rules were in the classroom on the first day and wasn't particularly fun.  And there was also an incident with the line to go to the cafeteria for lunch.  The person in front of Eliza's line thought he should wait for the teacher to come get them but really they just needed to follow the other line.  The delay resulted in the kids losing time to eat lunch and play on the amazing new playground equipment.

Walking to meet me after school.

I surprised the kids by taking them to a local frozen yogurt place for a treat when I picked them up from school.  We used the coupons they'd received for summer reading and everyone loved getting to choose their flavors and toppings.  I think it even helped ease Eliza's frustration over a rough first day.