First Day of the New School Year!

...And the school year begins.  Sidney looked so grown up.  We held our breath the first day hoping that the send off would be smooth.  I walked her into her classroom, and she gave me a brave squeeze hug and firmly said "Goodbye Mom".  I took my cue and exited as quickly as possible.  I peered from the hallway for the next 20 minutes watching as tears silently streamed down Sidney's face.  It was heartbreaking and took every ounce of willpower to not go back in after her.  Soon enough the silent tears stopped, and she had made the transition.  It felt like we were walking on egg shells every day that first week.  Sidney amazed us all at how well she did.  It was a sharp contrast to the preceding months (and years).

Kendall was looking forward to seeing her friends.  She is the only child I know that cried the last day of school, because she was going to miss everyone over summer break.  This year seemed so different.  As I dropped her off that first morning, she seemed a bit intimidated.  As mentioned in an earlier post, her new teacher is not the "nurturing" type.  She was definitely giving the kids more responsibility and privilege.  It is probably perfect for the kids, but it took a bit of adapting on my part.  I am very grateful that Kendall seemed very quick to adapt.  She needed a few additional kisses, then she was off and running.

I took a big gamble last year and bought the girls clearance backpacks for this year.  Who can resist a good bargain?  However, I sometimes forget that as they get older they are very opinionated about things.  Fortunately, I did good.  They were very pleased with my selections.

Here is Sidney after her first day of school.

She was very excited to tell me all about her first day.

As we were leaving, Kendall spotted us and ran over to say hello.  She also enjoyed her first day and had a lot to tell us about.