Missing Brother

First Day of School

Yesterday was the day. My little boy started school. I wondered if I would be one of the moms wiping away the tears, but mostly I was excited for him and excited for the time I would have with just the girls. At one point this afternoon Emma asked me if I missed Elias. "Yes," I said, "do you miss him?" "NO," she replied. Now that's sisterly kindness. This morning, however, I couldn't tell who was more excited, Elias or Emma. They were both up 1 1/2 hours earlier than normal. Elias couldn't sit still and Emma couldn't stop asking questions about Elias's school. At breakfast this morning Emma prayed that Elias would have a good day at school. It's a moment that I will always treasure.

Isn't that the biggest back pack you've seen for a kindergartner? Because he's and all day kindergartner California law requires they have naps. They have mats to lay on but they are suppose to bring a towel to lay on to make is a little more comfy. I bought a nice big plush towel and then realized it was going to be stored in his backpack. And because he's and all day schooler he needs to bring his lunch, so Elias has this nice big three pocket backpack. When I was in his classroom I noticed a majority of the kindergartners had roller backpacks. This is some hardcore kindergartnering we are doing.

I'm excited about this school year. I get the benefit of homeschooling and yet Elias will still be in a classroom. He will be in school Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday and then Monday and Thursdays I get to home school him, not just homework, but a full day of school work. I'm excited to be so involved but to also have a break and let someone else do the curriculum planning. It's a small class as you can see, 7 Kindergartners and 5 1st graders, and his teachers are so wonderful. I'm very excited to see how Elias grows this year as I'm sure it will be a stretching experience for him and me.

Tomorrow is a home school day. Elias isn't home yet from school today but I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of my syllabus for tomorrow. We'll see how it goes. I'm excited about doing school with him, but uncertain how to keep occupied an 18 month old who has already started a fire

in our kitchen and created more messes then my other two combined. I'm envisioning lots of playpen time.