…For a few hours during the week, anyway. The day after Labor Day and returning from the beach, the little boys started Mother’s Morning Out two half days a week. We missed the meet and greet the week before their school started when we were at the beach. However, we already had found out Arthur would be with the same three year old teacher Thomas had.
For days Thomas went on and on about how sweet and funny she was and how much Arthur would love her. I have to agree. I was excited for Arthur because I have such special memories of that three year old year with Thomas. Thomas also continued to tell Arthur all about things he would get to do on his first day of school and many other things he remembers.
It’s sweet to listen to him recall the memories and realize what impressions were made that he remembers now. Just this week Arthur came home with his circle of friends that has all the names of his classmates on handprints around a circle. We have it on our refrigerator to help him learn the names of his new friends. Thomas saw it when he came home from school and went to find his in his keepsake box to show Arthur he had one too.
So far Arthur is loving his new year. He’s matured so much in the past few months. He’s got two of his best buddies in his class again. Somehow they turned out to be the only three boys in the class, and they’re having a blast.
JL is taking it in stride. His age is a rough adjustment for separation. The first morning I dropped him off to a room full of toddlers crying and as I sat him down he immediately followed suit. I don’t’ blame him. I probably would have cried too! After a couple of weeks, they’ll be settled in more. I have much admiration for the teachers loving on a room full of toddlers. That is no easy task. They’re doing little crafts with them, and you can tell they enjoy what they do. I’m thinking this will be a pretty sweet year for him.
While they’re off to a good start, I’m learning a few things as usual. It’s always hard for me to adjust to something new no matter if it’s a good change. I’m a slow learner, I guess. If I wasn’t I would have figured out by now this seems to be a pattern with parenting. Just when you get in a good groove for a while, something changes and you need to adjust.
It will take me a couple of weeks to figure out what works and doesn’t for when I need to schedule things during the week. I’ll play around with reworking my gym time and responsibilities at home. I have a pretty long list of some projects I’d like to tackle during my free time this year as well.
I also enjoy using one of the days to meet with friends without kids in tow. Sometimes we’ll meet for lunch or coffee. In the past we’ve all read something and gotten together and talked through it. It’s just nice to carve out some time to have deeper more meaningful conversations.
One thing we’ve learned over these last few years of me staying home with the boys is that sending them to school for two half days a week before starting real school is plenty for us. It truly is the best balance for everyone. It’s just the right amount of separation for them and me. They’re still learning and working on social skills in a fun, Christ-loving environment. It’s not super structured, and I love that.
