First Day of School

After I blogged this morning I realized that I never took any individual pictures of Dillan on his first day of school. Nor did I really express how I felt about it. I am not one to get overly sentimental about things. I love holidays and birthdays, but mostly because I am social, and it is a good excuse for a party. However, about school I have mixed emotions.

I was so excited for Dillan and Lexi to start school today. Mostly because it gives me a few hours that I can work without so many interruptions, and less chance of the house being destroyed in the process. However, I am also sad. I almost feel a sense of loss. Not loss at having my kids home, but for their real childhood.

They have now entered the world of structured learning. They are now legally required to be at school. We can no longer pick up in the middle of any month and head to California for a surprise trip to Disneyland. We can't stay up late on a Wednesday eating junk food and watching cartoons just because we feel like it. We have to have a schedule. We have to meet requirements, get shots, and behave in classes. I personally love(d) school, enjoyed all of it, from grade school through college. However, it is a long process, a big journey, fraught with social perils, self esteem issues, worries, responsibilities, and of course, learning. So, am I ready for my kids to go to school? Yes. But am I ready for them to grow up? Not really.

School will be their reality for the next 20 years, so as anxious as I am to have them out of the house for a few hours a day, and have someone else help with answering their endless questions, and fulfilling their thirst for knowledge, I can't help but feel sad for them. A part of their life they never had a chance to value is now over. I wish I had a way of helping them understand what a gift it is to not care what you look like, to get to nap whenever you want, to just play because that is what you want to do, and you don't have other responsibilities keeping you from it. I wish I could help them understand how to appreciate the time they have had to spend at home doing nothing, being with the family, and doing things on their time. But I don't know how, and I know that school is a great place for them to be. So, I smile, wave, and celebrate after dropping them off. Trusting they are in capable hands, and hoping that their teachers will take the time to get to know them and appreciate the things that make them such an important and vital part of my life. Then I go back to the realities of that life, and thank the heavens above that Dillan and Lex aren't home to whine at me while I clean, cook, work, and run errands. Hahaha



This is Dillan with his teacher. When the school called and told us who is teacher was he said, "Oh man, I didn't want a grandma teacher." Haha I thought that was funny.

This is Lexi with her teacher. She was mad at her in this picture because she had to have a red sticker instead of a pink one. What a brat!


We walked home from school, and Dillan jumped from square to square the whole way.