Week 3 Begins...

...of Kindergarten that is. I may have mentioned a few times that the boys are now in all-day school. Have I mentioned that yet? HAVE I?? I admit it - I am EXHAUSTED. Nothing in the world could have prepared me for this new routine. It's relentless. And the boys are already starting each morning with "Why do we have to school today??!!!??" (I have to control myself SEVERELY to not just say, "Okay, let's all stay home!" because there is nothing more I would love to do at this point).

Their school is wonderful - I love their teachers - I love everything about it. It's just the never-ending-ness of it all. The papers that come home each afternoon. The papers that have to go back each morning. HOMEWORK every night (okay, so it's really just making "letter sounds" and takes about two minutes tops). Lunches that have to be made. FORCING them to eat breakfast. Packing up a week's worth of snacks every Sunday in each backpack. Making sure they have presentable clothes to wear (I feel like a crazy person admitting this, but I actually hang up COMPLETE OUTFITS for each day of the week on Sunday night for both of them). Glasses cases. Water bottles. Tennis shoes on PE days. Library books to return on library days. Practicing their cafeteria PINS (no more lunch tickets in the modern age!). Book order forms. The relentless PTA requests. Spirit Day Fridays! "Show and tell" days! This is just two weeks of school, people!

(Sigh.) I know it will all be fine. But I have a new found appreciation for ALL parents of school-age children, those who are doing it now and those who have lived to tell the tale. It's a full-time management job. We'll get used to it, I know. But for now, I'm making it through one day at a time. (And to Jessica and Ashley - I miss you both! A LOT!)

Kindergarten Begins

Today was Day 2 of Kindergarten. Yesterday was pretty good as far as the boys went. They both really like their teachers, so they were fine when we left them at their classes to start the day. For some crazy reason, I started bawling as soon as I went to leave - without them seeing, of course - which makes no sense at all, considering I've left them at home nearly every day all these years. The difference being, I guess, they were left at home with Miss Jessica or Miss Ashley versus being left at school all by themselves. (Sob!) When I picked them up from school, they were happy and excited and VERY VERY tired. No naps and lots of activity has made an interesting two evenings. The good news is that they pass out nearly as soon as their heads hit the pillow. The bad news is that they are INCREDIBLY GRUMPY and easy to set off into tantrums. Oh well - I'm sure we'll all adjust very soon.

Both of their teachers send email updates to let us know what they're working on in class, which I completely love! I cannot stop being totally proud of our school - we really have a great one!

Lunch is a bit of a struggle - mainly for me, who obsesses over how LITTLE THEY EAT. Yesterday, they both tried the hot lunch. Jack ate a little of the cheese pizza, green beans and pineapple slices; Nathan ate vanilla yogurt and pineapple (that's supposed to get him through until snack time?!). Today, both boys took their lunches in their new Sponge Bob (for Jack) and Mario Super Sluggers (for Nathan) lunchboxes (thanks Grandpa!). I "made" them each a PB sandwich and they then added baby carrots, applesauce, pretzels, and a cookie snack for dessert. Nathan had a bit of a mishap today when he tried to throw away his trash after lunch and leave with his cookies but they made him throw those away too (this is all coming from him, so we don't know too much about what really happened). I think he wanted to eat them later? Anyway, no food leaves the cafeteria - so we told him next time to just put everything back in his lunchbox. But I have an ulterior motive for that one - Brooks tipped me off that this way I'll know what they ate. Which is good thing, because today they each ate only pretzels, apparently. AWESOME. Very nutritious. Jack said he may or may not have eaten some of his applesauce - he just couldn't remember.

So all in all, school rocks. At least for now...

Back to School

Last night was back to school night at the boys' new school - although for us, it was go-to-school-for-the-first-time night. We found their rooms, met their teachers (separate classrooms!) and put away all of our school supplies. The boys are very excited and looking forward to starting on Monday, mostly because of recess, of course. They are very well prepared, if I do say so myself, but the socialization thing is going to be huge. Both boys have great teachers, and I'm excited to see how the boys do in this new environment.

The kindergarten classrooms each have a restroom in the room, and Nathan used theirs last night. He was in there FOREVER and finally Byron knocked on the door to make sure he was okay. He found Nathan standing at the sink, sort of freaking out, because the directions for washing his hands were confusing. The directions told him to turn on the water first, then put soap on and wash. Nathan was upset because he normally puts soap on first, then turns on the water. Apparently he was worried about doing it wrong. So we told him the directions were for all the kids who don't know how to wash their hands, and his way of doing it was fine. LOL. Ugh! They are just little perfectionists.

Today is the last day we have with Miss Jessica - and it is a sad day indeed. She's been nannying for the boys since they were six months old, so this is quite a change for us. I once again realized how much I relied on her when she called me yesterday to ask if the boys should put on nice shirts to go the school event, something I, of course, hadn't even thought of. What will I do without her?! Ugh...

Tooth Fairy

My boys may be the first children in the history of the planet to be AFRAID OF THE TOOTH FAIRY. Nathan lost his first tooth yesterday - August 10, 2009! - and was excited about the prospect of getting a dime from the Tooth Fairy (kind of cheap, huh?). But when it came time to place said tooth under his pillow, he suddenly freaked out (helped along as usual by Jack) and decided he didn't want the creepy Tooth Fairy sneaking around his room at night. So I volunteered to keep the tooth out on the kitchen counter instead. Both boys were happy with the solution - and excited about the four quarters the Tooth Fairy left behind. Turns out the Tooth Fairy had deeper pockets than the boys anticipated. Now, Jack is working on his first loose tooth - the EXACT SAME TOOTH that Nathan lost yesterday, of course.