It was the first week of school and we are off and running!
Xander started 2nd grade and Augustus started in kindergarten! We took photos at home and then I attempted to take a photo in front of the school sign and my 6-going-on-16 year old said, “we already did this!” …Ok cool kid.
When we got to school, we dropped Augustus off at his classroom first. I said, “give me a hug and a kiss” and he gave me a LOOK. So I said, “or a high five” and he high fived me and went into his classroom without a second look! We dropped off Xander and as we were walking out, there was a mom sobbing in the hallway. I thought, “kindergarten mom!” and then I thought, “wait, I’m a kindergarten mom! Am I supposed to be crying?!” I was imagining spraying champagne bottles everywhere like a winning race car driver.
The boys are at a new school this year. MPA was a great school and had a great 2 years. But the drive got to be a lot and the tuition was outrageous and while there was a lot of good, the vibe wasn’t quite us. It just didn’t feel like the right fit. We found a school that is 5 minutes away from our house. The class sizes are small and tuition is FREE. This is an outdoor education focused charter school- kids have one hour per day of outdoor ed, plus recess. The curriculum is play-based and child-led and so very in line with summer camp. I could talk for hours about how much I believe in this type of learning style. I didn’t the boys to have to change schools and leave their friends, but I think this is such a good switch. I am very hopeful about the change.
The first day was ok. Both boys came home complaining about the school lunch. “The chef is awful“. Well sweet boys, that is because there is not a chef- the lunches are catered and re-heated. I was very excited about free school lunch, but thus far, I’ve been packing lunches each day.
They are adjusting and exhausted and we’re easing in. Week 1= pretty much how I expected.
Tuesday night was our first swim practice. I was not thrilled that the first day of school and the first day of swim practice were the same day- that felt like a LOT, but the boys were amazing. They went to school and after dinner were ready to swim hard! The boys will swim Tuesdays and Thursdays and it’s a lot and I’m a little nervous about it, but they both seem to like it so far. So we’ll see how it goes.
On Wednesday, Gussie’s new glasses arrived. He was very excited to pick them up and very impressed by the “fancy” case. Together, Gussie’s eyes work great- his vision is clear. It is only the left eye that is an issue. So whether he has the glasses on or not, he sees the same. Which means that once the novelty wore off (after a day), convincing him to wear the glasses has been tricky. In the long run, wearing the glasses (plus patching) should make his left eye stronger, but right now, the glasses have been a bit of a battle.
Pirate time began on Monday (as I described in the last blog). He needs to wear the patch for 30 minutes a day to exercise his optic nerve. I am trying to make it fun. Every time he completes pirate time, he gets a piece of treasure that he can use to buy prizes from my prize box.
The patch annoys him, his glasses annoy him. Xander is jealous of pirate time and thinks it’s unfair Gussie gets to earn prizes. Gussie is obsessed with the rewards attached to pirate time. I am concerned that I am somehow messing both boys up. Am I supposed to shake my fist at him and tell him, “wear the patch… or else!…” That’s not exactly my style of parenting. Thus far, I am hustling to create daily “pirate time” activities that are fun, but not too fun, include both kids, and keep him busy while he wears the patch. It’s going to be a journey. We played pirate bingo with Sam and Abby (winner of each round got a skull shaped ring pop). We had tv time and “walk the plank” after school snack- graham cracker planks, swedish fish swimming in blue jello, and plank-walking pirates made of (the target was a ship wheel surrounded by pirate swords). We played pirate themed memory.
He is getting more and more used to wearing the patch and his glasses. So hopefully it will get a little easier as we continue. That, or I will need to have 360 more pirate-themed activities up my sleeve…
On Friday, we had a neighborhood pizza party to celebrate the first week of school. Melissa and Kelly are both teachers, so we had a lot of back to schoolers! We gathered in Melissa and Aaron’s backyard for pizza, drinks, kids playing, grown ups relaxing and gorgeous weather. What a way to end the week!
On Saturday, we slept late and relaxed all morning. Then we headed to Sarah and Grayson’s house for the Iowa/Iowa State game. There were SO many amazing snacks and good food. There was a kids vs. dads dodgeball game. The kids played incredibly nicely. The weather was gorgeous. Iowa won. We laughed nonstop. It was a perfect day. I wish we could get together with this group more often- it was just so wonderful.
Today was a low-key day. The boys played. I grocery shopped. Nate did so much laundry. We are rested and ready for week #2!