Two and half years. That's how long it's been since the minis have been inside of a school building. Last year on back to school day, we were living on a houseboat in Northern Minnesota. This year, we had two days of back to school things for all three, so by the first day of school, we were all frazzled. Those early mornings are killer when you're not used to being in action before 8:00 a.m.
Thankfully, they all let me get those first day of school pictures and I had the first few days off, so I could be available for drop offs, pick ups, and mid-day phone calls from the assistant principal (more on that later). I'm not sure if it was exhaustion or the fact that this was the longest the minis and I have been apart since the pandemic began, but after those first few days, the minis and I opted for a slumber party on the couch and early bedtimes on Friday night.
The oldest bravely conquered his first few days as a freshmen in high school. He says his days went fabulous. He is thrilled with his art and cooking/food prep classes he got into. He's joining theater and hopes to have a role in the fall play, along with getting volunteer hours in, so he has the option to serve on student led crews and activities next year.
The youngest was thrilled to be back with familiar faces. She loved how teachers and staff all made a big deal that she was back with them and not homeschooling (something the school knew since we homeschooled through our school district). She quickly settled in, scheduling play dates and "hang outs," and getting back into the dance studio (the same day school began). She has also joined band, where she will learn to play the clarinet and her school's news crew, where she will share the daily news with the school ("but I have to put it into kid terms and not how CBS does the news") and learn about journalism and videography.
The middle one had a rough few days. REALLY rough. His school is affected by the shortage and is missing key support staff along with busy teachers. He was thrown into his seventh grade year and had to figure out middle school with zero help from the school. Even I was ready to go back to homeschooling after his first few days, which I spent on the phone with teachers, counselors, and the principals. Luckily, not much gets this kid down and he's persevered all on his own. I'm so incredibly proud of how this kid has handled himself. I'm even more proud of him for trying new things. He decided against dance this year and is instead taking a drama course, creative writing, and joining a co-ed volleyball league (not through the school since the school doesn't have a boys volleyball team and he was not allowed to play on the girl's team), in addition to flute lessons.
Have I mentioned that my Mom Mobile is back in service BIG TIME? Between shuttling my own kids to their activities in the evenings, the first few days I used every single seat in my vehicle for carpool. I'm so very thankful I went with an 8 passenger vehicle! We celebrated the first day of school with dinner at the kid's favorite Mexican restaurant. Now that we've had twelve days of school under our belt, the dog is more stressed and depressed than ever and this mom is less stressed now that the teacher title has been removed. I'm still Mom and business owner, who gets slightly crazed making sure my children are out the door on time and are picked up on time, followed by getting food in them and to their activities each night. I'm imagining the stress won't stay away for long!
