One Week Down!

One week of school down...well, almost.  Tomorrow is Friday.  Again, I'm bummed I haven't figured out the picture thing yet, but I'll have tons to post all at once once I get it.  I'm pretty sure the kids have had more baths this first week of school than the entire month preceeding.  We started out the week picking out clothes for the first day.  John and Eve both picked something that wasn't my first choice, but it was a good exercise in letting go and letting them grow up.  Eve wanted to put her dress on right away and pitched a fit when I told her she had to wait for the next morning.  She was so darn excited!  Up until Monday I hadn't been the least bit upset about the first day of Kindergarten and Pre-school.  I was so excited about them being so excited.  I was awake most of Saturday night worried I had forgotten to pack John's lunch, and reminding myself that it was only Sunday and I was OK.  I was up at 4am Monday, wide awake.  John and Eve both woke up really early, really excited, and were dressed and ready to go WAY ahead of time (take note...that'll never happen again).  Everything went well until I started walking down the hall.  That's when I felt the tears coming.  We went to John's class first.  He walked right off, but I felt a need to stand around for a minute (turned out to be a minute too long for me).  Ellie was shrieking with excitement watching Phineas and Ferb, the class hamsters (named after characters in a super fun kids show).  I told John, through tears, that I'd miss him and to have a good day, then we took Eve to her class.  She also just walked in like she knew what she was doing.  For the rest of the morning I was a basket case!  I suppose I built it up so much for them, I ended up building it up for myself, too.  Meanwhile, I went to the gym and pulled myself together.  Afterward Ellie and I went to the playground and to feed the geese, just the two of us, and we had such a great time!  For the first time I could focus attention on her and not feel like I was neglecting someone else.  This is going to be a really good thing for both of us.  Of course, by noon, I was DYING to hear about Eve's first day.  She was so thrilled!  She had a great time and told me all about it.  Then, 2:00 couldn't come soon enough!  John's report, "It was AWESOME!"  In fact, that's what he's told me every day so far this week.  Eve pitched a huge fit Tuesday because she couldn't go back to school.  The only other thing she doesn't like is "criss cross applesauce".  I ask her why, and she says, "because I don't."  Still not sure about that one.  John has been a lot more willing to tell me things about school this year.  I'm amazed at what he's learned in only a few days.  I'm also amazed at how he's handled the long days, every day, and thrilled at how much he's enjoying it.  Ellie, Eve, and I are struggling a little more with the new schedule, but we'll get there.  Nap time is the biggest issue.  I think we'll all sleep well this weekend.
One funny thing about school, whenever we say, "backpack," Ellie flaps her arms and makes her chicken noise, "bwack, bwack."  I guess it does sound a lot the same, and it actually looks like she's putting a backpack on.  It's really cute.