Change Is In the Air

I can't think of a more appropriate title for today's blog entry, because change is indeed in the air, especially for my four children. Like many other children in America, they went "back to school" Monday after an all-too-brief summer respite (too brief for me; as for the girls, they would have happily started back at the beginning of August!).

Obviously, the biggest change to affect us this school year was the addition of one student to the carpool: Sawyer started Kindergarten!!




Monday was a day of great anticipation for Sawyer, and I believe I can safely say that when it was all said and done, he was not disappointed! He only went for three hours (Tuesday he began full days), but I was amazed at all the things his teacher was able to pack in to those three hours! Drop-off for ALL the Kindergartners seemed relatively smooth: No melt-downs that I saw, no tearful goodbyes from students or parents, and the teacher had created "stations" around the room with signs on the wall directing us to place various school supplies here and there. I noted with some satisfaction that the teacher suggested we "take our child by the hand" to show them where the supplies belonged, but Sawyer simply read the signs himself and Randy and I stood back and watched him put his supplies away.

There was only one glitch that I am aware of that took place, and I was thankful for the shortened day for him. Now that he is wearing a uniform he is required to wear a belt, and prior to his first day of school he never wore one. Randy bought him a nice new belt on Saturday, and it had hung in the closet waiting to be used. Unfortunately, it was VERY stiff so when he needed to use the bathroom, he was unable to get it unbuckled. Bless his heart, he went back to his classroom and pretended to have used the bathroom, never once bothering to ask the teacher for help!

And trust me, he's not afraid to ask for help: He evidently couldn't get his bag of chips open either, and when he asked his teacher to open it for him she told him he couldn't have any chips until he'd finished his sandwich. Thank you, Mrs. Harris!! (The girls said, "Well, I just think that's harsh!")

He fairly bubbled over with enthusiasm as he shared with me the activities they'd participated in, most notably a hunt for the Gingerbread Man after his teacher read the story to the class. He said, "Mom, he sneaked into our room, and then we found him and we ate him!" I got tickled at how quickly he picked up one of his teacher's mannerisms. When I suggested I read him a bedtime story, instead he went and found a book he wanted to read. He came back to the living room where the other kids and I were assembled and said, "Okay, everybody, eyes on me!" And then as he would finish reading each page he would turn the book around and slowly move it from left to right so everyone could see the pictures. I had to stifle a laugh a couple of times!

I feel like I deserve the Mother of the Year award because after a summer of late nights, I actually had Sawyer tucked in his bed with the lights out at 8:00! Will wonders never cease? The other kids were in their rooms by 8:30 and hopefully asleep by 9:00--I never went back to check. Last year we fell into the bad habit not even starting the bedtime routine until 9:00, so it was often 10:00 or 10:30 before the last upstairs light was extinguished. But I don't think Tyler will survive if he doesn't catch a few more zzzzzzzzs--he has marching band practice at 7:00 three mornings a week!

Bless his heart, I mistakenly told him he had to be at school at 7:00 Monday, so he got up at 5:45 and loaded his banker box full of school supplies and his bulging backpack into the car, only to arrive on campus and discover that marching practice didn't start until Tuesday! Oops--my bad! Then when I went to pick him up (along with Darcy) after school at 3:00, we spent about a half-hour helping Darcy get her locker organized until it was time to collect Peyton. Alas, at that point there was no time for Tyler to go home because he had drumline practice from 4:30 to 6:00--that'll happen twice a week--so he had a VERY long first day. And that doesn't include jazz band practice that he and Darcy will have two or three days a week. Is it any wonder I had a dream on Monday night that I forgot to pick up one of the kids from school??!

The big change for Darcy this year is the transition from Elementary to Middle School. But, Darcy being Darcy, she has taken everything in stride and adapted very quickly to a life of lockers, changing classes and eight teachers instead of three. She is taking the core classes of History, Science, Reading, Language Arts, Bible and SST, plus she also has Band 5 days a week rather than an elective plus a study hall. Based on her Stanford Achievement Test scores, she was placed in Pre-Algebra this year (the class that ALL 7th graders are taking this year), so when she is in the 7th grade next year she will apparently take pre-AP Algebra, according to her teacher. Clearly she got her aptitude for math from her father!

And then there is Peyton. On the surface it would appear that not much has changed except that she is a grade older, but this year marks the first time she has really and truly been separated from Darcy. Since Darcy has moved across the street and into Middle School, Peyton is now the oldest Todd in the elementary school. I think what might have been a sad thing for Peyton has worked out fine because now Peyton gets to act as the protector, as the guide, as the security for Sawyer should he need it. She walks him in to the cafeteria to await his teacher each morning, and she asks him about his day each afternoon when I pick her up. It turns out that her teacher is Mrs. Parish, the mother of Peyton's and Darcy's friends Cheyenne and Peyton. And if that isn't a happy coincidence, I don't know what is!

So, we're two days down and something like 178 to go, but so far so good! It's going to be a GREAT year!