Back-to-School

I feel a little guilty saying it, but I'm SO GLAD summer's over.  We had a lot of fun but the last week or so it's been way too hard to keep the kids entertained and try to get some work done, even with help.  Aliya's first day is tomorrow, and Adlani has a kindergarten open house.  Thursday is Adlani's first full day, and Norah has preschool orientation.  She finally starts preschool on Tuesday and we can get back to our routine. 

Aliya has been dying to get back to school but when she realized today that tomorrow's the big day she got a little nervous.  She said she didn't realize that she had to have her first-day outfit ready tonight, she thought she had another day.  She asked, "What if someone doesn't remember me?"  That's not likely to happen and my advice if it does was to say, "I'm Aliya."  That's the wisdom that comes from 42 years of experience.
.

Adlani insists that he doesn't want to go to school.  I was telling him all of the great things about school, learning to read, riding the bus, eating in the cafeteria...he pointed out that he already eats in the cafeteria.  I asked him if he wanted to go back to preschool (that's where he ate in the cafeteria) and he said "no".  I think he'd be happy sitting home watching Noggin - "It's like preschool on TV." 
.

Norah can't wait to go to preschool.  I've noticed just over the last couple of weeks that her vocabulary has grown even more.  I think she may be ahead of where Aliya was at her age, and Aliya was pretty advanced.  Norah is going directly into a Spanish immersion class so I expect that she'll pick it up really quickly.  When they figure out that they can speak Spanish in front of me and I won't understand, I'll be in trouble.  I'm learning, but it's a slow process.
.

To get back in the swing of the school year, I spent this evening surrounded by moms of new kindergarteners, doing the worst school-related project EVER.  We had to put Spanish translation stickers into the "Welcome to Kindergarten" books...8 of us worked from 7:30 to 11 p.m. with no dilly-dallying, and we didn't finish the books.  The stickers were incredibly hard to peel apart, and there were at least a dozen stickers per book times 60 books.  I need to go ice my thumbs in preparation for Round 2.

.

Good luck to all who have kids heading back to school...
WE SURVIVED!!!

.