Kindergarten and other new beginnings...

The summer days are getting shorter, the first leaves are beginning to drop, and its the beginning of another school year. Its funny in a way that it is another full-time school year for Nora, considering she's only just begun kindergarten. Because her birthday is in December, she wasn't eligible to officially start kg last year, but she basically received that level of education from the Montessori school she attends.

Nora's first day was the Tuesday after Labor Day. That was a long long wait in her eyes, since Emily had begun school the week before. Every day she asked, is it a school day? I'd tell her no, and she would work on math problems here instead, pretending that she was at school. When the day finally arrived, she popped out of bed at 6am, and was dressed in head-to-toe pink, promptly, by 6:03 am. I didn't think the hands on the clock would move fast enough, but they did. We had a nice breakfast, and then she was gone. This was the first year that I didn't bring her to school on the first day. Ryan wanted to be the one to drop her off, since I'm usually the one playing chauffeur. I'm not complaining though; the benefit of being the driver is that you get to witness all of those great moments that define childhood, and parenthood too. I'm glad Ryan had the opportunity to be the one to bring her to the first day kindergarten at her "new-well not so new anymore-school".

So off they went, then Emily rode off on the bus 30 minutes later, and it hit me. I AM ALONE IN THIS HOUSE. The possibilities are endless...I can do anything or nothing. A smile spread across my face from one ear to the other...I felt like I'd just graduated to the next phase of my life, and you know what, that is a good feeling!

And the best part is, that in those few hours of silence, I can recharge my batteries and greet those girls with open arms, and more importantly, an open heart, when they come home. The girls did come home, with big smiles on their faces. We are a happy bunch! Emily presented me with the artwork she completed that day, and Nora told me all about her new classroom, her new teacher Miss Kim, and how she was so excited to see Illiana and Ivan and Ian. She was a little confused, since some of the kids from last year were gone, but every indication is that all lights are green and Nora is ready to take on that school with all she's got. Now I've got to go and help her with her reading homework...