School's Out for Summer
Here it is, the beginning of August, and I was just feeling like we got into the swing of summer. And then we got an e-mail last week from Ingrid's new teacher with our back-to-school supply list! What? I want the 104 days that Phineas and Ferb promised me.
The kids really finished strong at school. Henry struggled until February and then had a major breakthrough. He wanted to stop going to the nap room, and when we proposed it to his teacher, she told him he could join the older kids for afternoon work if there were no more tears in the morning. He said he thought he could do it if he left me at the car drop-off line instead of having me walk him to his classroom. I calmly told him that sounded like a reasonable plan, while inside I was doing cartwheels at the prospect of not unloading all three children, walking them inside, having Henry wail on me for ten minutes, and re-loading the girls back into the car every single morning. Next morning, we did our four hugs at the car and off he went, and it was a million times better from then until the end of the year.
It wasn't just drop-off; apparently his whole day was better. His last progress report said he was doing really well at choosing something to work on, improving proficiency in a lot of areas, and a great member of the classroom community. We saw a lot of these improvements at home too. So it was a terribly rough start, but school ended up being very positive for Henry. I daresay he's looking forward to going back.
Ingrid loved school from beginning to end. I feel very lucky that she landed there and that she enjoyed it so much. Her little school also yielded some lovely friends for all of us; we've acquired two families with the older-brother-at-Logan/little-sister-at-TOTH combo (one with bonus baby friend for Heidi), plus Jackie and her kids (Henry says he is going to marry the older daughter). Her end-of-year report said she was proficient or making good progress in all of the classroom work. She will be just barely three when she starts at Henry's school in September but at least she is already comfortable with many of the primary materials. I am seriously angsty about sending such a tiny child off to full-time school this fall, but Jackie says she is ready and would be very bored with another year in a toddler program.
So, all in all, a good first year of school life for them. We celebrated the end of the year with popsicles, pizza, and root beer.
And then it took until the end of July for us to settle in to a routine at home. School didn't end until June 20. Then we were all sick as dogs for a week (Ingrid missed what should have been her last three days). Then we had one week at home when I belatedly reconsidered this whole "three children under 5" thing. Then we had our trip to the beach and post-travel days of everyone being crazy.
We've now had 2.5 normal weeks at home and finally figured out how to do summer. Lots of play dates with friends. Trips to the pool. A couple of more ambitious outings -- with three kids, everything is an endurance event, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that we can do it. It's not quite as freewheeling and awesome as last summer, but it's great to have some down time together. Henry and Ingrid fought a lot in June -- I think they weren't used to being around each other all the time anymore -- but have fallen back into a good dynamic and entertain each other quite well.
My parents are here this week, we're at the cabin next week, then we have one more week at home. That's it! Summer is way too short. Henry starts back on August 24th. Ingrid's phase-in starts on September 16. Heidi and I are going to miss the bejeezus out of them.
The kids really finished strong at school. Henry struggled until February and then had a major breakthrough. He wanted to stop going to the nap room, and when we proposed it to his teacher, she told him he could join the older kids for afternoon work if there were no more tears in the morning. He said he thought he could do it if he left me at the car drop-off line instead of having me walk him to his classroom. I calmly told him that sounded like a reasonable plan, while inside I was doing cartwheels at the prospect of not unloading all three children, walking them inside, having Henry wail on me for ten minutes, and re-loading the girls back into the car every single morning. Next morning, we did our four hugs at the car and off he went, and it was a million times better from then until the end of the year.
It wasn't just drop-off; apparently his whole day was better. His last progress report said he was doing really well at choosing something to work on, improving proficiency in a lot of areas, and a great member of the classroom community. We saw a lot of these improvements at home too. So it was a terribly rough start, but school ended up being very positive for Henry. I daresay he's looking forward to going back.
Ingrid loved school from beginning to end. I feel very lucky that she landed there and that she enjoyed it so much. Her little school also yielded some lovely friends for all of us; we've acquired two families with the older-brother-at-Logan/little-sister-at-TOTH combo (one with bonus baby friend for Heidi), plus Jackie and her kids (Henry says he is going to marry the older daughter). Her end-of-year report said she was proficient or making good progress in all of the classroom work. She will be just barely three when she starts at Henry's school in September but at least she is already comfortable with many of the primary materials. I am seriously angsty about sending such a tiny child off to full-time school this fall, but Jackie says she is ready and would be very bored with another year in a toddler program.
So, all in all, a good first year of school life for them. We celebrated the end of the year with popsicles, pizza, and root beer.
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| Much happier than the first day! |
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| Missed getting a picture at her own school; looking fierce enough to handle big kid school next year. |
And then it took until the end of July for us to settle in to a routine at home. School didn't end until June 20. Then we were all sick as dogs for a week (Ingrid missed what should have been her last three days). Then we had one week at home when I belatedly reconsidered this whole "three children under 5" thing. Then we had our trip to the beach and post-travel days of everyone being crazy.
We've now had 2.5 normal weeks at home and finally figured out how to do summer. Lots of play dates with friends. Trips to the pool. A couple of more ambitious outings -- with three kids, everything is an endurance event, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that we can do it. It's not quite as freewheeling and awesome as last summer, but it's great to have some down time together. Henry and Ingrid fought a lot in June -- I think they weren't used to being around each other all the time anymore -- but have fallen back into a good dynamic and entertain each other quite well.
My parents are here this week, we're at the cabin next week, then we have one more week at home. That's it! Summer is way too short. Henry starts back on August 24th. Ingrid's phase-in starts on September 16. Heidi and I are going to miss the bejeezus out of them.
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