First Day of School

Yesterday was the first day of school for my 3 kids. This year is a year of big changes for our family. My oldest is no longer an elementary school student, as of yesterday he is officially a middle school student.
This year we have two schools to keep up with. This year we get to learn how middle school works, what is required of the kids, who all of the new teachers are, who the principal is, how to find our way around the campus, and most importantly how to orchestrate two different schedules. Gone are the days of dropping all 3 kids off at one place, going to one school for "Meet Your Teacher," Open-House, and all of numerous events that happen throughout the school year. This year we will be running back and forth between two schools, in fact the next time that our kids will all be in the same school again, my oldest will be a senior in high school and my twins will be freshmen. OUCH!!! So, yesterday it started. First up was the girls. We headed out the door for our not-so-short walk to school. The girls were really excited. They know most of the kids in their class, they meet their new teacher last week, they were loaded down with all of their new supplies, and they had on new outfits. They could not wait to start a new school year!

After dropping the girls off, I walked back home to get my oldest ready for his first day. He had been sick all weekend, so whether or not he was going to school on the first day was still up in the air. When I arrived back home I was very surprised to find him dressed and ready to go. I was really proud of him for making the decision to go to school.
Normally, he would have walked to school, and on the first day I was going to walk part of the way with him...for moral support, of course. Because he wasn't feeling good, I decided to drive him and brave a whole new "car rider circle." I didn't know what to expect, but was very happy to find a well organized, smooth running car rider circle.
As I pulled the car to a stop, I gave him a few last words of encouragement, made sure he knew where he was going, and told him to have a great day. Dropping him off at middle school was almost a difficult as dropping him off on his first day of Kindergarten.
In the end, all three kids had great first days. We made it through the first day of middle school and 2nd grade. Only 179 more days to go!