First Day of School

My brood on the 1st Day of School on the way to catch the bus.

Katja and Robbie were both eager for school to start. Jack felt the excitement even though it was not his first day back to daycare. I offered to drive them to school on the first day, but they had both visited their campuses to meet their teachers and declined my offer. Whatever happened to the days when they held my hand all the way to homeroom and then had their picture with their teacher on the first day of school? I was strictly prohibited from taking more than 5 pictures and all of those were to be taken in front of our house, and only because it's been done every year since they were in kindergarten. Robbie made sure to kiss me goodbye while we were still inside the house. Katja welcomed kisses even at the bus stop; however, calling her "princess" is now strictly forbidden in public. At home, however, she demands her royal status.

Robbie started 4th grade. I took him to "meet the teacher" the previous Friday and, as it turned out, they all knew him already. The fact that they all hugged him and joked with him, as opposed to greeting him with cold/fake smiles was encouraging. The fact that he was excited about who they were was even better!

Katja began junior high. She is a 7th grader and has embraced her new school with gusto. She has already made the top choir, orchestra, and volleyball teams. She has also started talking about boys and the first dance. Sigh. It's going to be a loooong, interesting year.