This post has nothing to do with how to have a smooth first day of school. In fact, I would say our first day of school was slightly chaotic. It involved a lot of me saying, "Okay girls! It's time for this!" (This being - breakfast, shower, getting dressed, taking pictures, getting in the car...get in the car. GET IN THE CAR!) I like to think I'm more organized than the average...but man. Kids = herding cats.


All this to say...I'm so thrilled Kaye isn't going to school five days a week - only two. Yes, she's in Kindergarten this year, but there are a few reasons I've decided to homeschool...for the most part -

1. I'm married to a farmer. With both the farmer and I not having traditional, 9 - 5 jobs, not sending the girls to traditional school will work well for us...for now. When our farmer gets time this winter to leave the farm for extended periods, we won't have to think twice about it. We can just pack up and go.

2. Why two days a week? We sent the girls to the sweetest Montessori school last year two days a week and they looooved it. They went on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, which left us Thursday through the following Monday to go do whatever. Hi long weekend!

3. Is there a school closer? Yes - There's a traditional elementary school fifteen-ish (depending on how fast I drive) minutes from our house. It's four days a week and the classrooms are blended grades.

4. How do I plan on homeschooling? Am I apart of a co-op? Welllllll...The School of Mom doesn't officially begin until after Labor Day, so I'm giving myself some grace. Luckily, Kaye is only in Kindergarten, so the most we really have to tackle this year is counting and letter sounds. Girlfriend is already doing addition and kiiiiiiind of reading. So, I figure if we can just not regress, she'll be totally ready for first grade next year. (Hahahahahaha...crack myself up.) But truly, I take education pretty seriously. We're going to work really hard on math, reading, and writing. I'm also working on hiring a Spanish tutor. For Sawyer...we're just going to work on her attitude.


Okay - Enough about homeschool! Let's get back to our their first day of school.

It started with me getting pancakes prepped and lunches packed before the girls woke up. At 7 am I went downstairs and gathered the zombies to shuffle them into the shower. (They had a late night with gymnastics the night before.) Shower was followed by pancakes...while Elli screamed at them and threw food on the floor. (You guys - she's cute, but this shrieking has got to stop.)

With 30 minutes before we had to be out the door, I was thinking...Wow. We are nailing this. We have plenty of time. Not so fast. Our farmer came home. Again, I thought...Yay! An extra set of hands. This is going to go even more quickly! That's when he told me he only had a few minutes to get pictures. So instead of the 30 minutes, we now had 15 minutes to get dressed, fix hair, brush teeth, and take pictures.



(Friends - That's me ruining yet another picture. Eyes closed...looking like a HOT MESS.)

That's when the yelling and herding of cats started. So, we hustled. There was minimal fit-throwing. (Unless you count my mini-fit when I found out my farmer couldn't take Elli while I brought the girls to school. Yes...Every time I drive the girls to school the round trip takes an hour.)


We arrived to school ON TIME and there were absolutely no tears this year...unlike last year when I was 145 weeks pregnant with Elli and hormones were all over the place. My big girls seemed so. much. bigger...this year. We dropped Sawyer's backpack off in her cubby and she posed for pictures (as she does) and gave me the obligatory hug and kiss. She was gone. Next I walked Kaye to her class and all of a sudden my brave girl didn't seem so confident. As she walked in she realized there were not so many familiar faces. A lot of the kids that were in her class last year had graduated into first grade...and those also happened to be the kids she was closest with. But, she put down her backpack and had a seat at the circle. She seemed fine...


When I arrived that afternoon to collect my big girls things were great. The girls hopped in the car and we started our drive home, until we started talking about school. My sweet Kaye started crying and told me all about how none of her friends were there. She just didn't understand why they went to a different school. I explained to her that they were older and they graduated, and now she was older and she would be the big kid, but it just wasn't enough. She was heartbroken. We talked a lot about how she would make new friends this year, just like she made new friends last year. At some point...she decided she was going to stop being sad about it and told me she was going to have a great day at school the next day. My sweet girl.

Apparently school is exhausting, because Sawyer turned into a new version of herself immediately following dinner and got sent to her room...where she fell asleep for the night. (That's a win.)

Elli was in bed and our farmer went farming, so it was just Kaye and me. We made popcorn and watched...something. (She watched her show, I watched Instagram.) A bit later she told me she couldn't find her tooth. Say what?! Luckily, we found it. It was on the verge of falling out and it had bent forward between her lip and gum. Uh, gross. At that point, she pulled it out. Herself. Which she's done with both of her other teeth. What kid pulls out their own teeth?!

Following that excitement it was time for her bed and time for me to dig into the junk food. Don't judge me.

I'm praying for a happier, less shocking day for Kaye tomorrow...and that she makes some new friends.