Welcome Back

The backpacks and new clothes were hung by the front door with care, in hopes that the first day of school would soon be there ...

 Well, I managed to get my three big kids off to school today without too many tears -- well, truth be told, the only tears were mine.  Yes, some tears from joy (that is little "j" not big "J"!), but I have to say putting Hannah on the bus for her first day of Middle School brought back the memory of her getting on the bus on her very first day of kindergarten.

Oh, so very brave!

I remember walking her to the bus stop and she was all smiles until she climbed up the very big steps -- she turned around one last time with such a brave wavering smile trying so very hard not to cry, she broke my heart.  Joy immediately jumped in her car and followed the bus through all its stops until it arrived 20 minutes later at the school where they were both in tears.  Fastforward 6 years, and I still felt as if a piece of my heart was being pulled out when I saw Hannah's bus pull away this morning.  Nobody chased after her today since, as defined in the bestseller Parents of a Middle Schooler,  the rules clearly state that parents must strive to appear non-existent.  Chasing her bus down and frantically hugging her as she stepped off would probably not be cool!  I did embarrass her by taking a few (OK 37) pictures, and blowing kisses, but otherwise I just let that big yellow bus take my baby to the next chapter in her life.

NOT Gymboree clothes!!

Best looking group of Middle Schooler's

Here comes the bus

No problem climbing up the steps today!

Really Mom -- no more pictures ... and so it begins!

Of course, we also had two elementary school kids to get out the door to the walking train stop, so there was no time to linger in my nostalgia, it was still all hands on deck!  Most of the real drama for Ethan and Olivia  took place last week when the classroom/teacher assignments were posted.  The papers were posted at 4pm Friday afternoon just before the administrators snuck out the back door and turned their cell phones off for the weekend!  Although the teachers were important to Joy and I, the kids really only cared about WHO IS IN MY CLASS????  Luckily, Olivia got three of her BFF's in her class, and Ethan scored a few good men and one "arch-enemy"! 

Yeah, I'm all that!

We managed to get the "little" kids out of bed (thanks to our new alarm clock nazi), dressed, fed (well, pop-tarted!), out the door for the requisite first-day-of-school photos and to the walking train meeting spot with minutes to spare.  No tears were involved with this drop off, but my heart did flutter a little as I watched my brand new 2nd and 4th graders parade off to school with shiny new backpacks full of sharpened pencils, new unbroken crayons and all the dreams that their little shoulders could carry. 

Walking to the walking train!

The gang is all here

Do boys have BFF's? ... I think so!

My hands did feel a bit empty as I walked home with conflicting emotions.  I was sad that our summer of fun was over and that the kids would be gone all day (AND that homework would be coming soon), yet I was also a bit giddy with the thought that my house will now stay a bit cleaner, my cheese sticks will not be depleted daily, and maybe, just maybe, I will get to watch one of my TV shows while eating those bon-bons!

In reality, I still have one small underoo-wearing cowboy at home for 3 more weeks until preschool starts.  Thank God Charlie is not starting kindergarten today, for my heart could just not take that. We are going to spend today working on an after school surprise for the kids, enjoying some quality Charlie and Mommy time, and counting down the hours until we can pick up Hannah, Ethan & Olivia! 

Yummy