How It's Going

Sam has been to preschool twice now and really likes it!  I got to be the parent helper today, and it was fun to see him doing so well.  The kids are learning the routines and rules and so it was a little chaotic today but Sam really does hold his own.  I heard him being polite to his teachers and classmates, laughing and trying new things.  He got a little nervous when he had to give the weather report (on the day your parent helps, you get to be the Special Helper), but that seemed pretty normal to me.  WHen we came in this morning, a girl in the hallway loudly asked her mother why that boy had a pink back pack.  Sam didn't even notice, but I listened to hear what the mom would say - "He must like Dora like you do"  Thank you mom in the hall.   I think we are off to a good start there.

I'm not gonna lie - we are all pretty tired :)

 Casey is now in day 6 of kindergarten, and he loves it!  He says that kindergarten is tiring and sometimes in the morning, we get a few "I don't wanna" sentiments but I think it has more to do with getting out of bed.  Usually he is pretty excited once we are on our way.  Sidenote - I am really glad we are walkers - the traffic around the school at drop off and pick up is nutty.  Thank goodness we live so close.
Middle of last week, Sam unfortunately told Casey that we had gone to Target during the day.  I wish someone had been taping this for a Target commercial - he burst into tears and made a speech about how we are doing fun things while he has to go to school and it isn't fair.  Then in a very dramatic conclusion, he looks right into the camera and yells "I love Target - I want to go to Target instead of school - I LOVE Target!"
This moment, as well as a few others, have lead me to consider the impact of being home with these guys all these years.  It has worked really well for us and it has been a real joy for me.  I do think though that it adds another layer to these times of transition.  Many of Casey's classmates are already used to going somewhere else all day, being away from home, away from their parents.  Maybe they don't do errands with their mom or have a routine at the grocery store.  Casey likes kindergarten but I think he is missing the daytime things we do.  And we miss him - Sam doesn't have a buddy his size to play with and I do miss our quiet time activities.   For a minute, I considered saving all those things for afterschool, but he has really needed some downtime, so I don't know.
 We seem to be finding our way through the after school hours - some days have been better than others.  Casey does seem to need some down time (could he possibly be an introvert - yikes!), but he can't be mean to everyone.  It just became clear I needed to be a little more directive as opposed to letting him call the shots.  So we have been walking home, having everyone sit down for a snack, then having some screen time (show or video game) with each kid on their own.  After that, I see what he wants to do.  It has worked pretty well so far.
I am also still waiting for the day when we get it all together - on the first day Casey could not find the money we sent in his pocket for milk.  On the second day I forgot to pack him a morning snack, on the third day he came home without his homework folder because some other kid took it by accident.  On the fourth day we forgot to bring his lunch box home.  Yesterday, his water bottle leaked throughout his backpack.  Today I got a recorded message from the school asking me to call because Casey was absent and they had no call from us.  Keep breathing, keep breathing.... called back to say that he should be there and when the woman came back she was very apologetic for the error.  Whew.  So maybe tomorrow?  Or maybe it's like Jeff said "it might not be one of the choices". 
I am happy to report that we are doing well at getting up in the morning. which means we are also doing well at getting the kiddos to bed on time.  Hooray for us!  Small victories, but we will take it.
Thanks for checking in!