Back to School

My bigger kids both started school the beginning of September.

This is the lobby of Darcy's school, which we visited the day before school started. (Jesh is blowing a whistle.) It's funny how excited kids get over things that are their size — like little chairs. The part of her school they were most stoked about was the tiny toilets. I get that.

This was her first morning. She didn't look back once.

Except when I made her. :) The bus picks her up at 6:45am and she's always happy to go.

Sally Bean and I have a good day together, but she's so happy when the big kids start coming home.




This isn't a flattering picture, but you can see Jesh and his new teacher, Ms. Mamun, in this shot. He's the Waldo look-alike, and she's standing next to him in black pants and black and white shirt.



Jesh has had a tough time with school, just the same as last year. He has no problems with the academics, but he struggles with all the executive functions (time management, organization, focus).

We prayed every prayer this past summer that the kids would get good teachers and good new friends in their classes. I believe Ms. Mamun is an answer to our prayers. Last year I felt like his teacher often gave me lists of what he was doing wrong. Ms. Mamun tells me where he needs to improve, but she also tells me good things about him, and how much potential she sees in him, and she has ideas about how to help him.

What makes me most confident in Ms. Mamun though is Jesh's attitude. Even though he's having the same self-discipline problems as last year, Jesh loves Ms. Mamun. We've got a lot of work ahead of us, but working with her, I feel reassured that it's a good work. I've been reminded of this story about the gardner.




We'd appreciate any thoughts, prayers or good vibes you could send to help our kiddo, and to help us make good choices for him.





On a much less Christ-like note, the picture below shows the gate to the school yard at Jesh's school. Between 2:10 and 2:30 about 600 students are picked up by their parents or caregivers who all need to pass through this gate to enter and exit.

Do you see where that ice cream truck parks? It is hard to get in and out with my stroller against the current of humans even without the ice cream truck lines.

And to end on a happier note, this is the outfit Darcy wore on our walk to the store on an almost 90-degree day.