It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Does anyone remember that Staples (I think it was Staples) commercial about 10 years ago? They played that song (which envokes thoughts of Christmas) and showed a grown man dancing through the school supply aisle at the store, while his children drug their feet behind him & looked solemn. It was an hilarious commercial. I can now completely relate to it. Emma started 2nd grade on Tuesday and Sarah started Preschool yesterday. Yes, I was sad because each "1st day of school" is one less "first" that we have with our kids. But, they also drive me up the wall when they're home for days on end & are bored to tears so they invent new games to slowly push me toward the padded room that they have on hold for me somewhere. Both Emma & Sarah LOVE school & were excited to go back. That being said, I'm now kinda spooked at the quiet that has engulfed my house in the last 2 days.

Emma's first day went great. There's only 1 2nd grade class this year, so she's back together with all her friends from K & 1st grade. It's a bigger class than she's used to: 23 kids. Her K class had 12, and her 1st grade class had 17. But, she's sitting next to one of her best friends, and they all have their lockers next to each other. They're "The Emma's", Emma F.. Emma K. and Emma W. Yes, they've all been in the same class, for 3 years.

Sarah was sooo sad when she couldn't join Emma in her class when we dropped her off the first day. So, the next day when it was HER first day of school, she was off & running. She wouldn't even let me take very many pictures of her because she just wanted to get in there & have fun. She hugged her teacher and then she had to explore. This is the same teacher, with mostly the same aids as last year, but it's in a new place. There are also a few new kids in her class. This is technically the "Special Needs" class, so there are a couple kids with Autism and one other child who has T21 (he's 6 months older than Sarah). It's on the university campus, so they have access to a lot of help from students who are getting ECE degrees, as well as going into a form of therapy (PT, ST, OT). They also have their own playground, which is gated (Sarah's a runner, lol), and they also have their own transportation, which we will be utilizing. Sarah actually took the bus this morning. At first she was all for it. She let the aid buckle her into the seat (specially made for the busses) and then she realized I wasn't coming with her. I had to get off the bus before I snagged her out of the seat & took her back into the house, lol. They said she did fine once she got to school. When she got home, I think it hit her, ok this is how it works. We'll see how she does tomorrow.