(With apologies for the less-than-awesome picture. Amy insisted on holding the zinnia, and was in the middle of some speech to her brother when I was trying to take her picture - oh well).
Holy cow, it seems just a bit of time has slid by with nary a word on my trusty little blog - sorry! I'm not going to try to do any of it justice, but just to catch up on the last couple of weeks in summary form:
-enjoyed spontaneous, expensive-but-worth-it second trip of the summer back up to my folks' house... just wanted to get up there one more time before school started/baby arrived... it was so lovely... kids played outside the whole time... saw my parents' kitchen redo in progress... tons of fun.
-returned at same time Don returned from a short underway trip, and a day before he started two weeks of leave (finally!)
-next day went for 20 week ultrasound - baby is great, kids came along and were fascinated, and we were all thrilled to find out we'll be adding a little GIRL to our family! yippee!! oh, and I got the whole thing on a DVD - how cool is that?
-the next day Don started leave and we all went to the aquarium downtown... we are members... it was free... fun, but crowded and good golly, it has been hot down here lately... just the walk from the car was almost too much... busy weekend followed... saw an old friend... cleaned out garage (well, Don did) after finding black widow spiders... ick... Monday was regular OB visit for me... also fine... Tuesday spent big bucks at the grocery store in preparation for guests...
-Don's parents arrived late Tuesday night for their "yearly" visit... glad to have them... busy week, playing hostess-with-the-mostess, but I really do love the chance to do that... we were all joined by Don's little sister and her guy friend... more people = a big strain on this pregnant introvert, but lots of fun all the same... kids loved all the attention... we went out and did some fun sight-seeing things all together... the weather was mercifully cool and gray... everyone left yesterday.
-and today Amy started KINDERGARTEN! it's probably better that I was too busy to dwell on it all week - I had two minor, late-night meltdowns about it as it was... but she was nothing but confident and excited and had a terrific first day, so that is all Good.
And there, you are caught up. Some other quick thoughts on school: I continued to struggle all summer about whether or not we'd made the right choice for Amy's schooling this year. Still really attracted to the homeschooling idea, and it sure seems that all the Cool Kids are doing it these days. The thing I hate about regular school the most is being, as I've said it before, a slave to the school calendar. Everyday, with hardly any days off, early morning to early afternoon my girl will be away from home five days a week. She is only "allowed" 10 absences in the year. I bristle at an institution telling me what is allowed and not allowed as to how my daughter spends her time. I understand they have to do it to protect the kids and keep tabs on parents who are not nearly as committed as we are.... but still... makes me twitchy. And my meltdowns mostly went like this: "I'm not going to get to eat LUNCH with Amy anymore!!!"... somehow this lunch thing has been a recurring theme. For Amy, this was her favorite part of the day. For me, it represented a gaping hole my daily routine. But really, the day was fine and it occurred to me last night that this is after all, just kindergarten, not college. And sure enough she was home at 2:20, glowing, an inch taller, and full of stories and things to tell about her excellent day. She is still my Amy.
So I'll just keep having the schooling conversation with myself (and with you) as the year unfolds, and as we move around over the next few years, and the right thing will make itself known. For now though she's got a great teacher and a sweet classroom in a nice little school and she's happy, so we will just take that and roll with it. Experientially, if not academically, it will be excellent for her.
Good luck to all my friends with little ones starting or continuing school in these next few weeks!
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