children

Last night I had to run an errand to a shopping center to use up some gift cards (don’t worry, I’m not blowing our budget already).  The kids were definitely not ready to go back home.  They LOVE to shop.  So I suggested we just look around Old Navy.  Not buy.  Just look.  It turned into a cute little stop.

First they had to get pictures with the Old Navy families. I’m sure you’ve seen the commercials where they act like they’re people.  Emma is actually hard to spot at first.

And then we went back to the girls’ clothing and they found this super cool game.  There is a projector under a table that projects an image on the floor and get this…it’s interactive.  I had to beg them to leave several minutes later.  We need one at our house!  Look how active they’re being!

Just a few noteworthy things today, all about Emma.

The first is that Emma has been complaining about her tooth.  Not in a I can’t sleep at night way but just every once in a while while she’s eating way.  She even asked for a dental appointment.  But after that was made, she claimed it only hurt when she was chewing gum.  I knew I should get it checked though and man, am I glad I did.  Turns out her body is rejecting a filling from February and it was bad and they pulled it out this afternoon. NO idea they were going to have to do that and wow, I almost wanted to cry with Lexi who got really nervous when they announced they were going to do that.  So within 30 minutes we had the empty socket, bloody gauze thing going on.  It’d been so long since I’d dealt with that and remember vividly those days from childhood.  Anyway, sure you wanted to hear about THAT.

Since I hadn’t really planned on a tooth extraction, we were short on time before Emma’s curriculum night.  Scott grabbed some food from Burger King.  Yes, Burger King.  It was school night there and proceeds go to the school so we took one for the team.  Otherwise, I don’t go near there.  Well, except for the onion rings and sauce.  Yum.  I don’t know why I mentioned that except to say Emma didn’t eat any and never did before bed.  She refused all food and only drank some water.  She is going to be STARVED in the morning.

Emma was still bleeding so Scott ended up staying with her at home while Lexi and I went to the school.  They were keeping all the kids together and she wanted to go play with friends.  I got to listen to things about reading comprehension and fast math and spelling techniques, etc.

As I was leaving I told her teacher about her tooth so she could be prepared if she had issues during the day.  I also told her again how much Emma is enjoying the class and her as a teacher.  She said she was enjoying her as well and said she is a precocious girl.  I sort of laughed smiled as we were and walked out.  Precocious?  Isn’t that like acting flaunty? Sassy?  I couldn’t remember and that didn’t sound like Emma!  I looked it up on my iPhone on the way out and turns out it means:

exhibiting mature qualities at an unusually early age <a precocious child>

I think that’s a good thing?  I mean, I don’t know.  Unless she’s acting like a know it all.   It’s a lot better than the shy little girl in Kindergarten though!  I feel like she must be comfortable enough with the teacher to show some confidence and maturity.

So that’s that.  The tooth fairy left a generous $5 bill tonight for the unexpected turn of events and I think my precocious little girl will be quite happy, albeit hungry in the morning!

In case you don’t follow me on Facebook or Twitter where I have been obsessively updating their progress through the day, the first day of school was…drumroll, please…a HUGE success! Every single prayer I prayed was answered without fail.  We got there early and took Emma to her class.  She chose a book and sat with the other 2 kids that were there calmly.  Her teacher had hall duty and I think she liked seeing her first thing. I can tell Emma really likes her.  Emma was extremely content (yes, I think I’m still traumatized from Kindergarten) so we left her for Lexi’s big drop-off. 

Lexi was the second to her room and instead of making them sit outside, they let them go in the class.  That was a HUGE help.  Those busy hallways are so overwhelming on the first few days! The teachers warmly welcomed them and directed her through her morning routine.  They sign in by using the smart board to move their name into either the packed lunch or tray line for lunch.  She sat in her square and barely looked back as we watched for a few more minutes from the back as kids started streaming in.

She had no hesitation whatsoever and that made me a happy momma!  Scott and I zoomed to the cafeteria for pastries and coffees after which I practically skipped out of the school singing dcTalk’s Free At Last.  So much different than the last two years.  I’m not gonna lie.  I enjoyed not having to run to the next town twice for preschool.  I enjoyed quietly working.  I enjoyed the house staying neat for 7 hours straight.  I was so ready to go get them this afternoon but yes, the break is wonderful.

We did go eat lunch with them today.  Scott with Emma and me with Lexi.  Both had great reports then and after school.  I have no clue what they did all day except they had a good time and enjoyed lunch as you can see in this video…

The only downside is 6:30 comes early tomorrow and the next day and the next.  I’m sure I’ll be begging for a holiday soon!

Check out more pictures on Facebook.

(Lexi is excited when she sees her friend arrive)

Yesterday was meet the teacher for the girls and tomorrow is the first day of school. Most notable is Lexi’s first day of Kindergarten. She’s ready and excited. Which means I’m ready and excited. She has the benefit of most second children and already watched her big sister tackle such a huge new challenge of big school. She knows the hallway, the lunchroom, the library, the principal, how to get her tray and type in her lunch code. Fair or not, she’s way more prepared than Emma. I want to feel the same level of angst that I did with Emma. Because I certainly did. But I also benefit from already going through this. And really, I’m just happy for Lexi. Especially since she has her best friend in her class. I’m going to miss her eating cereal and watching TV and playing Barbies and running all my errands with me but I know this is going to be great for her.

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I feel for the first-time parents though. I remember asking the teacher what would happen if Emma just wouldn’t quit crying.  At one point would they call me?  I can remember a mother giving me a look of compassion while trying not to smile.  Yesterday I could have given a set of parents a hug when they asked at what point they would start looking for their son if he never showed up in class or if the teacher would be sure he bought his milk for his lunch because he wouldn’t remember.  I guess as first-time parents of students you don’t realize that they’ve done this lots of times and know to look for lost or crying students in the hall or know to be sure to put a name tag on them or know to look for kids that don’t have drinks at lunch.  Thank goodness they do but you can’t help it, it’s your job just to make sure.

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Emma is ready.  She knows her school.  She loved her teacher.  She knows several kids in her class.  She’s happy the her bully is NOT in her class.  And she’s already begging me not to take her picture.  All is good in the world.