First Day of School

Yesterday was the first day of school. Emma was sick with a fever and what turned out to be a strep virus, so she stayed home. It actually made it a bit easier for me, like testing the water before you jump in. I dropped Beth off in her classroom, she was as cool as a cucumber. I said "do you want me to stay with you for a few minutes?" and she said "no, that's okayI'll get used to it."

The worst part was waiting for the bus to bring her home. The last hour dragged by and for the last twenty minutes or so I sat very still outside straining my ears listening for the sound of Beth's bus. I paced back and forth on the driveway, fearful thoughts coming up and quickly set aside. Waiting for my happy, tired girl to come back home.

Beth enjoyed her first day of school quite a lot. She used big, extravagant words like "fantastic" and "amazing" to describe it to her Daddy and Grammy. The first thing she said to me off the bus was "I didn't learn anything" to which I replied "well than what did you do?" I expected her to say "playing" or something like that but her answer was simply "mostly line-ing" which is her made-up word for standing in a line. She said "there are rules about hands and feet!" like that was the most unthinkable thing in the world. She did not like waiting for the bus and she did not like one certain boy who "breathed on me".

Today is the first day that both Beth and Emma are away at school. They stepped up onto the bus like it was the most normal, ordinary thing they'd ever done. It was hard to watch them leave and the quiet here is very strange but I am getting so much done! I finally bleached the sippy cups threw away all of the markers without lids and organized the coloring books - things I've been putting off for a solid month.

It is like the clock has been turned back to when Beth & Emma were little - only now it's Katie-Abigail & Josiah and I have a totally different perspective then I had then. It's really different then what I'm used to. Much calmer for one, that's for sure. I almost feel guilty for how much I am enjoying their absence. I love them to pieces and a miss having them near to me, but I am really enjoying this new, slower pace.