First day of school

And so begins another year of school.  C was up early and ready to go with cries of "come on mom" all morning.  But she was a good sport and endured the annual paper plate photo ritual (thank you Barbara!).

And this year, K got in on the action too.  Last year, J found a playgroup that K attended 3 days a week and then eventually 5 days a week since he liked it so much.  But this year he's going to a local pre-school that will be a bit more structured than the play group.

Usually C takes the school van in the morning but since it was the first day, I wanted to go to school with her to help get her settled and meet her teacher.  School is about 30-45 min. away depending on train schedules.  A few snaps on our way:

Finally we made it to school.  C acted like an old pro and knew exactly where to go.  First she said "hello" and shook hands with the principal and then made a beeline for her new room.  It's the same group of girls from last year, just a new teacher, so the girls were all happy to see one another.  When the teacher asked C about summer, C told her all about picking corn.  I guess our trips to the farm made an impression.

The report from both kids was that they enjoyed their days at school.  K entered with no fear, probably helped by the fact that he and C went to camp there a few days this summer.  He told me he painted and met a new friend who is a boy, but who's name I can't quite understand yet.  K only got tripped up at the end of school when he tried to rush out when he saw J at pickup.  The teacher prevented him from leaving and showed him the 'proper' way to leave - stopping to say good-bye and shaking hands with your teacher.  Apparently this elicited a bit of a pout but I'm sure he won't make the same mistake today.

C enjoyed school as well.  She told me that she did a lot of handwriting and that she met a new friend too.  And of course, I got a full report on lunch - sausage, mashed potatoes and peas.

And J.  He did well too.  I think he's happy to have a few free hours back in his day although the school runs definitely require some stamina.  Not surprisingly, everyone slept well last night!