Back to School

This week both kids started back at school. Hadley is in pre-kindergarten three mornings a week. She was very excited to go back to school, even though it's a new place and she didn't know any classmates. It's across town and starts earlier than Owen's school, so Dad will be dropping her off in the mornings.

According to her, her favorite food is bananas (?); favorite colors are pink, purple, yellow, and green; and she wants to be an artist when she grows up.

Owen is in first grade, which means he has to stay at school all day (6 hours) this year and take his lunch! He was not as excited to leave summer and go back to school, and the report so far is 'first grade is boring.' (I think that may be because they are just reviewing kindergarten stuff so far.)

I walked him to school this week, one day on our bikes. The weather felt like fall already with mornings in the 40s, though Owen was in denial about needing a jacket. On the first day, about 5 minutes into our walk he asked to hold my hand. I said, "of course you can!", imagining that he won't ask me to do that for much longer. But once we were holding hands, he snuck them into my hoodie pocket to keep warm! I'm going to savor it as a sweet moment, rather than a manipulation for warmth. Ha ha! Next week I'm sending him in with some neighborhood kids for another step of independence.

Waiting in line at the big school! Not too many familiar faces in his class this year, but I'm sure he'll make new friends easily and catch up with the old at recess. In his own words: his favorite foods are California roll and dumplings; favorite colors are dark blue, red, and dark green; and he wants to do "something easy" when he grows up, like lawn mowing or street sweeping. Atta boy!