Monday was their first day of school. It was a morning full of firsts – her first day of kindergarten, their first day at a new school, my first time being a mother of two school aged kids with more spare time on her hands than she knows what to do with. 

Despite my grievances about waking up so early, we were all up on time, dressed and fed and had time to spare for mommy to take an incessant amount of pictures of her babies before the first day of school. I used these cute printables from Modern Parents Messy Kids. My pictures didn’t come out very readable so I included a handy translation in the photo above.

Remember when we were moving halfway across the country and I was seven months pregnant with my 2nd child? Remember when we bought our first house and were frantically putting baby gates everywhere because she was learning to crawl up the stairs but couldn’t get back down? Remember sleep training and homemade baby food and potty training (you know, yesterday) and strollers and … How is this girl of mine already five years old, in school full time – a big, brave, resilient kindergarten girl?

She was all smiles Monday morning, all bravery. She painstakingly picked out that first day of school outfit – mommy had no say in the matter aside from “You absolutely have to wear leggings with that dress because it’s too short even though this is literally the first time you’ve worn it.” I knew better than to ask, “Really? Those leggings?” On a grown woman like myself, this outfit would send me to the looney bin but she is working it out like a fashionista champ. 

That morning she wrote down that she wants to take care of butterflies when she grows up. I had a hard time turning that plan into two words so I ended up helping her spell out “a butterfly take care of” – and then realized that wasn’t really a coherent thought but her attention had waned and we moved on.

BB had a fantastic first day of school – all smiles from beginning to end, if a bit completely exhausted by 3pm. She made new friends, adores her teacher and had no reservations today either when I dropped her off for day two. Mommy had a few moments over the past two days of “What am I supposed to do with myself? Where are my babies? I don’t know what to do with my hands!” but mostly we’ve both been okay.

This year he starts 3rd grade and he has had his reservations about starting over in a new school but his amazingly friendly, outgoing personality will take him far. The curriculum this year is likely to be quite a bit more challenging than what he’s used to but so far he’s risen to the occasion. Going into the new classroom he actually already knew four or five of his classmates from karate class and I think this is helping a lot. 

The first morning he was pumped up about getting back to a routine and more importantly getting to hang out with his friends every day, even when mom wants to be boring and do nothing that day. His only real moment of hesitation was when I asked him “What do you want to be when you grow up?” as we filled out those signs and he teared up, not knowing exactly what answer to give. I assured him there was no wrong answer and he eventually settled on rocket scientist because obviously.

He’s already successfully completed his first day of homework which was mostly reading and memory work but the memory work is new to him and I was very proud and impressed with how well he did with it. Crossing my fingers for a challenging but engaging school year for him!

Both kids have really great teachers and seem excited about the school year. We’re crossing our fingers that the new school will continue be a good change for our family!

When do your kids go back to school? 

What do you do with your hands when your kids aren’t there to pull you backwards and sideways through the supermarket?