Alice's First Day in Third Grade

First day of school went well for Girly this year.

The boys and I walked her there. I was pushing the stroller, but she had her hand on the handle the whole way there. She wasn't pushing. Just holding on. She was giggly and nervous, confessing that she wasn't sure what to think about having her best friend in the other 3rd grade class this year. It turns out that Alice's five other best friends ARE in her class this year, so she's totally fine.

We've been really lucky to have a neighbor friend one grade ahead of Alice who unfolds all the mysteries of each grade to her as she goes. That eases a lot of Alice's stress surrounding change.

Alice knows the school routine by now. She found her place to line up, lugged all the school supplies with her, and started chatting with old friends. No big whoop. She's grown up a lot this summer. I have found her help at home irreplaceable. She steps in when things start getting crazy, especially with Matthew, and waves her magic "get along" wand. Things calm down. If she's the one losing her temper, though, everything explodes, but for those other times, she can be quite resourceful.

At one point today, she had Matthew bust-a-gut laughing. He was reaching up to her face and she was making "ewww" noises as he tried to cram his fingers into her mouth. I felt a twinge of sadness that he doesn't laugh like that for me...maybe he would if I played with him more. Most of the time, I'm only interacting with him because he's hungry or sad or in pain. Having four kids certainly has its drawbacks...like forgetting to take pictures on the first day of school.

But, hey! I get another chance tomorrow. That's Robert's first day of Kindergarten :)