First Week of School

Today marks the end of the first week of school and I am EXHAUSTED!  This getting up at 6 in the morning is no fun!  The kids are doing WAY better than me.  I've always considered myself a morning person, but I think I prefer my mornings to start around 8:30.   Here are those two sweeties on their first day:

First Day of Kindergarten!

First day as a Second Grader!

Getting up early was not the only hard thing about the first day of school.  It was also hard because my baby is now in Kindergarten!  I still can't believe my time as a mom of pre-schoolers is done (at least temporarily until the next member of our family comes home from China).  This BIG change brings on such a mix of emotion.  On the one hand, I am sad that they are both in school all day now and the house is quiet.  But,  on the other hand....THE HOUSE IS QUIET, and they are at school ALL DAY!  Party time for ME!  Parenthood is just so funny that way.  From the minute they are born, until the day they start Kindergarten, you are just waiting for the time when you will have your house back.  Its not that you don't enjoy your time with them when they are little, but you look forward to the time that you can I don't know...maybe go the bathroom without some little one barging in on you.  :-)  And, yet, once you have that time back to yourself, you are sad because they are getting bigger and you have to eat lunch alone.  The back and forth of it all is kind of crazy.  I will say though, that the best part to me of having them both at school together is watching sweet Trip look after Mady...walking her to class in the morning, waving to her in the halls, sitting by her on the bus every day.  He is such a great big brother!  And, Mady adores him and all of his attention; she just eats it up!  Don't get me wrong, they still act like siblings and know just how to push each other's buttons, but at least at school, they take care of each other.  And, after all, that's what brothers and sisters are meant to do, to look out for each other and keep an eye on each other and remind each other that they are not alone.  So, now as I sit here in this quiet house, an hour or so before they get back from school, I think I'll take advantage of the silence...and take a NAP!