Me, on the other hand, look at it more like the end of an era, for now anyway. You see, I just brought her home. I can see that day as plain as it were yesterday. Matt and I sat at our kitchen table with her asleep in her carrier on the floor and ate our lunch from Steak N' Shake. We marveled what had just happened. We actually had another life to take care of without supervision! We had no idea what we were doing. But we were so looking forward to all of the fun of the coming years. Flash forward five and half years. All the years as a little one and a toddler are gone. Our lives are now dictated by a new schedule - school. And that's how it feels - it flashed right by.
Nevertheless, it's here, and we all survived the first week (or half week; she will normally go five days all day). After the first day, we asked Laura how it went. She said her favorite part was lunch. (Although they only have 20 minutes to eat!) She said that they move quickly from thing to thing. I think she means from subject to subject. I asked her what she learned. She said, "I didn't really learn anything. We learned lots of rules." I could tell that she was really tired. Sure enough, she fell asleep in the car on the way home. She hasn't done that in years. The next two days were more of the same. We have a link that we are supposed to check once a day to see what's going on during her days. So we are able to ask her questions more pointedly about what she is learning. Next week we will probably get her first homework. And off we go, into our new world. It's amazing the little girl that she has become. She is so aware of personal relationships now. For example, she implies that if her friend across the street chooses to play with other girls, that she might now care about Laura as much, and it hurts Laura's feelings. This morning after breakfast, I was sitting at the table with Laura drinking my coffee, and Laura said, "I just want to sit here and talk, Mom." She's growing up!
I think this first week of Kindergarten was more of an adjustment for us than her. I have to make sure that she has uniforms ready and clean each morning. I have to check her folder each night and empty it. I have to clean out her lunchbox, plan what she will have the next day for lunch and snack. And we have started to have Laura shower every night. She used to this every other night. It's no big deal, except that she takes FOREVER! We will have to work on the art of a quick shower. It doesn't sound like much, but it has been a major adjustment to my schedule. And because I'm old, I adjust more slowly than Laura ;)
Not to be forgotten, little Hannah started pre-school this week too. She actually adjusted a little more slowly than Laura. Her transition week was the week before, and we were on stay cation. So we just dropped her in her new room on Wednesday. As usual, it was a little chaotic, so Hannah struggled. She dropped off OK, but she had an accident (wet her pants) once this week, which is unusual. I think she was just too scared to ask someone to go. She'll make it. I think that she loves that she gets dropped off in the big kid classrooms. And she is still very much looking forward to field trips. The first one will be to the pumpkin patch in October.
Seasons pass, years will roll....and we will try to embrace each change in our lives and enjoy our years with our babies, our little girls, and some day our young women.
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