I can't let this first week of school end without recording it. We are experiencing all things new this Fall. New city, new home, new schools, new church, new sports, new friends, new toilet paper and paper towels. (Why don't they have a Costco in my new town?? Yes, there are worse things.)
We've had a whirlwind week as most do when heading back to school. Ty was the Lone Ranger from our family on the first day of school. Neither Reese or Jaden made it out. Long story short Reese had fever the night before and Jaden was without a schedule. It is now Friday and the girls have four and Ty five days of school under their belts. And I just have to say how extremely proud I am of each of them doing hard things this week. This applies to the older two more than Reese. The hardest thing Reese had to endure was not attending the first day, when she so desperately wanted to be there! But the older two had bigger things to hurdle. They each had bouts with nerves and both were drawn to tears. Ty's tears came that first night as he lay in bed reminding us that he could have started back at Mary Marek Elementary with all of his old friends that day. Oh how much different would his day have been, said Ty. And he's right. It would have been very different. At lunch he wouldn't have sat with a table full of strangers (all girls, no less) resting his head on the table and wishing an end to lunch. Jaden's tears came as she and I, holding hands, waited just outside the Junior High car line while she gained her composure and gave permission for me to hop back in the drop-off line. It's just a Junior High that holds one-thousand 7th graders and one-thousand 8th graders, respectively. And then, that was it. I didn't hear another thing from either of them after that. They just bucked up and went to school each day trying to look for others who looked new or out of place, lonely or sad. Because they know first hand how it feels. Also, I loved witnessing both of them come to each other's aid in their saddest moments. I'd be hard pressed to find two more sympathetic siblings right now. They built character this week in doing hard things. Which is all their dad and I could ask of them. Here's to a fantastic year you three!
Ty's first day. Reese looks healthy enough to go, right? That's the funny thing about fevers. They leave as quickly as they come. But I wasn't going to take any chances on her first day.
The Lone Ranger. Ready to seize the day. Spike-y hair first.
This pic was actually taken just outside of Ty's school. At this point we didn't know if we'd get a schedule in Jaden's hands by the end of the school day. So she's ready to go just in case. The reason she was without a schedule on the first day of school you ask? Well, very long story short, we have taken advantage of the opportunity to retain Jaden in the 7th grade (her true age group) with this move. Something that we weren't granted (by the placement committee) until the Sunday morning before the first day of school. Hence the scramble to create a schedule on the first day of school. But it could've been worse, as Jaden and I witnessed while sitting in the front office that morning. A girl with gorgeous, purple hair was sent home in tears, a boy and his mother requesting his schedule were at the wrong Junior High, a mother came to pick up her daughter who had apparently broken her arm and another boy had arrived to register himself for school, all alone. So that put things in perspective. : )
Reese is officially a Kindergartner on day two of the school year!
Here she is just after Teddy Bear Tea the Friday before school began -- and a day before fever set in. And would you believe me if I told you that they withdrew her from school that first day?! Yep, I got a call from the registrar that afternoon that she had been withdrawn from their system because she did not show. Texas policy. From birth certificate to proof of residency did I have to register her again. That policy should die an ugly death. Silliness.
