First Weeks of School

I’ve always known that she was a social girl, but this has come out even more in the past few weeks.  When I ask her about her day, the first things she tells me are what different people were wearing that day, including the little girls who have ‘these beads in their hair, Mommy.  And, when they shake their heads, they jingle.  Can you do that to my hair, Mommy?’

She didn’t finish her snack for the first week of school.  Initially I thought this was due to her talking to those around her.  Nope.  No talking allowed during their short snack time.  So, then I realized that she’s not eating her snack because she’s too busy looking around at everyone.  She takes it all in, and I love this about her.

After we hear about recess and who wore what at school, eventually she shares with us what they learned.  Right now they’re focusing on phonics and letter/number writing.  Much of this we had already done together, but reinforcement is great, and there is oh, so much more to school than academics.  One of the things they learn in Kindergarten is to write in cursive.  She was bubbling over one day when she explained to me that they were learning to write like the teacher.

Mallory has had the hardest time adjusting to Isabella attending school.  The younger two don’t understand how to ‘play’ with her, and so for four hours she’s without a constant playmate.  Guess who this responsibility falls on?  Yep, me.  And, I’m learning how to better involve Mallory in some of my household tasks, as well as try to find ways to spend focused time just with her.  On the days when I get it right, she says to me, “That was the funnest day ever!”

 It took me a few days to figure out the drop-off and pick-up system at school (aka, minivan parade), but now I think we have it down.  We try to leave the house around 7:10 so I beat the crazy traffic, getting Isabella to school a little early for some extra time with her teacher.  I’m so thankful that the teacher encourages this, and always has something for the kids to do before the official start of school.

Mason and Jennavieve are pretty much clueless about the change in our family, which is a good thing.  They roll with whatever comes pretty well.  Mason now recognizes the parking lot of the school, and gets pretty excited when he knows we’re picking up his big sister.

I’m still adjusting to our new schedule and working to figure out how to best manage everything and everyone.  Something tells me I’ll always be working on this as our children get older, job schedules change, and moves with the military happen every few years.  The Lord is teaching me flexibility, something I learn over and over again, and Lord willing, I’ll be back on Friday sharing a bit more about this.