Monday, August 31, 2015

First day of the 2015-2016 school year

It is official! We now have a 2nd grader and a kindergartener. How time flies!!

I woke up the kids at 7 and when I poked at Conor, he immediately requested "1 more minute of sleep, please." I then poked at Annika, whose eyes popped open and she proclaimed, "Is it time for school yet????" Ironically, this is the polar opposite of how they both normally wake up.

After ushering the kids through the morning routine (breakfast, brush teeth, load backpacks, get dressed), we took some rather windy first-day-of-school pictures and then were on our way to school and the chaos that ensued.

Annika was practically clawing at the car door as soon as we were on the school's campus. She could hardly wait to see her friends and get the fun going. Conor was a bit more apprehensive and was very content to stick closer to me. It was incredibly loud and chaotic under the school's pavilion, so him sticking close was anything but a surprise.

Eventually, we got the green light for the classes to go into their classrooms. We stopped in the 2nd grade room first and got Annika all settled in for the day. The fact that she and her little bff Madeleine got to sit next to each other was the icing on the cake for Annika. I had to giggle that I had to direct her away from walking into the 1st grade room out of habit as we walked down the hallway to her new classroom ... old habits die hard! As I left her, I told Annika I was leaving so she didn't think I had disappeared... what I fool I was. She didn't bat an eye and gave me a half wave as I left ... she was far too busy socializing to care that I was leaving her.

My next stop was taking Conor to the kindergarten room. We found his hook and got his backpack/coat hung up and then ventured into the classroom to find his desk. As soon as we entered the room, Conor's little bff Emilio shouted out Conor's name, which made Conor smiled from ear to ear. Seeing familiar faces around the room was exactly what Conor needed. His desk is right next to his church buddy (Caitlyn), which was probably pretty perfect for him. A familiar face right next door. Before I knew it, the parents were being ushered out of the room and it was time to give Conor a quick peck on the cheek. I wasn't sure how he was going to do with me leaving, but he did really well. Not a tear or sign of fear on his face. He wasn't looking overly comfortable yet, but that'll come in time. The kindergarten teacher (who Annika also had and who is MARVELOUS) had pictures for the kids to color waiting on their desks, so he was too busy working on his project to care that it was time for me to head out. Whew! :)

Before I close, I want to say how blessed we are to be part of such an amazing school community. Our kids are surrounded by good kids who are true friends to our kiddos. The teachers and administrators are the epitome of caring, nurturing, and dedicated ... the perfect trifecta! The last piece of the CKS puzzle are the other parents; we know that there really is a village involved in raising our kids and many of those parents are key parts of our village; they are friends to us and wonderful role models for our kids.

I can hardly wait to hear about their first days and hear all of their thoughts on how things went. Such a fun new chapter in their lives!

Conor: All spiffed up in his new uniform

Annika: Social butterfly extraordinaire 

This perfectly sums up part of our morning

And this sums up the other part of our morning

All ready for 2nd grade

Watch out kindergarten, here come Conor!

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