KINDERGARTEN HERE WE COME!

THE day has come. The day Hailey begins her seemingly endless educational journey. It starts with kindergarten.

Ok, so the journey isn't endless. Someday she will be all grown up and have completed her formal education. But right now at 5 all I see are years and years of school ahead. That's not a bad thing, I am all about education and will especially encourage my girls to continue on to college and beyond. The thing that gets me is that this is the beginning of a whole new chapter for our family.

We now belong in the elementary school. I am a school mom. I paid my PTO membership dues. I signed up to volunteer in her classroom. I work with Hailey each afternoon/evening to get in her 10 minutes of homework each night. I walk her to the bus stop, chat with other bus stop moms, and pick her up from the bus stop. I put in my phone call to the transportation department complaining about said bus stop. I am a school mom.

Hailey loves kindergarten. We've now hit our one-week-in mark. I think she feels big and independent, and all sorts of awesome. She's a big kid now... she goes to elementary school. 

I actually have been pretty impressed with Hailey's maturity so far in dealing with all things school. I know it's still novel and exciting, but she is generally quick to get ready, happy to do homework, and ever anxious for the time to set out the door to meet the bus.

Me? I've handled it pretty well. Hailey has been ready for a while now. I think she could have gone last year and been just fine. With that fall birthday she was extra ready to start school. I've had the past year to stew over this new transition. That seemed to give me enough time to accept it and be happy with it.

Honestly, I'm happy Hailey is attending public school. Though deep down in my heart there is a part of me that is aching to homeschool and join her in every bit of her educational journey. I battled with myself all of last year, agonizing over where to send her to school (public school, charter school, homeschool, online school...). There are too many choices! Of course I just want what is best for her and best for our family. As I seriously researched into homeschool, looking at different curriculum, getting ideas on how to handle teaching from home, I came to realize that Hailey will succeed wherever she is taught. As much as I would love to homeschool her, I found that the timing this year just wasn't right. Now that we're here, I totally agree with that. And I don't know if it ever will be. It might. But for now I'm happy Hailey is getting this kindergarten experience. 

Hailey is loving school. And I can't lie, I'm loving the 2-3 hour break I get in the afternoon, especially when I get the two littles napping at the same time. I've felt a bit lost with some of the quiet time! And routine... by the end of summer I had been craving routine. I'm looking forward to getting into a weekly rhythm. 

So far, so good. I think we're going to have a good year!

Poor Keira is stuck at home with me. Though she tells everyone she is going to go to "Baby School". (She is obsessed with being little and being a baby.) I guess I need to get myself in gear and come up with some fun things to do at home with Keira for her "Baby School". Actually I've been hoping this school business would provide me with more one-on-one time with Keira. It's hard to teach Keira things when Hailey is always butting in with the answer! :)