First Day of School

I wasn't entirely looking forward to the first day of school.  I was definitely exhausted from our Super Fun Summer Schedule and needed something to change, but I wasn't sure starting school would be a step up, more like a step sideways.  New problems, for sure, but just as much stress.

One of the drawbacks to school starting was that my three boys were going to be at three different schools, with three different start times.  I just wasn't sure how it was all going to work.  We moved the boys around bedroom-wise to prepare, thinking that it would be better to pair the two in elementary.  Turns out, Nathaniel and Brigham are the ones who are waking up at the same time.  Jonathan has a whole other hour before he has to get up.  It's definitely harder to find something that works when there are so many different needs.

In the end, I was slightly more excited for school to start.  After worrying about how it was all going to work for most of the summer, I was ready to actually do it for real to see what would work and what would need to change.

We were no where near our ideal bedtime when it was time to start school, but the kids got up pretty well.  Nathaniel set his alarm but didn't check the volume on the radio and so didn't hear it.  He was a little behind but apparently, so was his ride and he made it out okay.  Brigham's bus came 15 minutes earlier than they said they would so I told them they would have to wait because he wasn't ready.  Jonathan had all morning to take as much time as he needed so he was great.

Nathaniel is the first one off.  A bunch of kids in our neighborhood go to Kennedy so we were able to work out a car pool which has been great.  Now that we're three weeks in, I can say that I think Nathaniel is doing great.  We've been worried about how he'd do in Jr. High for so long, it's so wonderful to see him enjoy it.  He loves that he has so many fun classes.  It helps that his cousin is in three of them.  He sometimes gets frustrated at the responsibilities that come with getting older, I think he still enjoys it.  I'm so proud of how much he has accomplished.

Next to leave was Brigham.  I don't know how much he understands about the First Day of School, but I tried to talk it up the night before.  He's so mellow that he just went along with it.  He knew that it was time to go when the bus came.  He knows the drill.  I've been really optimistic for this school year for him.  There just seemed to be so many more options for him than in Kindergarten.  I almost feel like Kindergarten was a lost year for him.  All the gains he has made have been entirely the work of his private speech therapist.  So, I was excited for this class he was going to be in.  Turn out, it is not the best fit for him and I'm anxious to move him to a different class, but it's taking so long.  We're three weeks in and he's still there.  I'm still optimistic, but extremely frustrated at the bureaucracy.  Why didn't they know this last year?  Why are we only finding out now that this wasn't the right class for him?  Hopefully we'll be able to work it out soon.

 Last to leave was Jonathan.  Apparently we didn't go over the new schedule because, as you can partially see in Brigham's picture, he thought it was time to go when the bus got here because that's what our schedule was last year.  He was on his way down the street as I was getting Brigham on the bus and I had to call him back.  He was really sad that it wasn't time to go yet.  I think this will work out well for him.  I always felt bad that the boys didn't have a ton of free time after school.  With homework, Scouts, and extracurricular activities, there just isn't a lot of time in the afternoon.  Last year I had to stop teaching him how to play the piano because he was struggling in school and homework had to take a higher priority.  I didn't want that to happen again this year so I decided that we could use this extra time to practice the piano and trumpet, read, and get his chore done.  Then he has more of the afternoon to play.  I still hate homework, I feel like it's an intrusion on our time.  Sometimes it can be a good thing if we're working together, but there are other things besides school to do.  School is, of course, important.  That's why we dedicate over six hours to it, but I feel like it should end there.  I'm happy to help him if he's struggling, like we did last year, but homework just for the sake of homework is wrong.  There, I said it.

Jonathan is the only one walking to school now.  It kind of makes me sad.  This wasn't how I pictured it.  One of Brigham's options for school is a class at Jonathan's elementary.  That would be so great, I would love it.  But it's okay if it's not, if the other class is better.  Still, I'm glad Jonathan and Brigham share a room now.  It's good for both of them to play together.

I love my boys!