My three school age children began school yesterday. The bus came at 6:55 am to pick up Josh and Sarah to whisk them off to the high school. We had visitors until noon-ish, so Elizabeth and I didn't get started until the early afternoon on her school stuff. This wasn't a big deal as all I wanted to do with her was introduce her to her new books, explain my expectations of the school year, have her form her own goals, and then get her binders/new school supplies organized. We spent a couple of hours getting all of our tasks accomplished and had a good time doing so.
It is going to be so nice, so refreshing, and such a good year having just Elizabeth at home. I had an inkling that we were going to have a good year, but yesterday my gut confirmed it. Having just Andy (when he isn't working) and Elizabeth home is going to take some getting used to, but this will be a good thing. I feel like I spend so much of my time and energy on Josh and Sarah that being able to focus on my bookend children for a sustained period of time is something that we all need and will value in the years to come.
I do think that Elizabeth and Sarah are going to go through an adjustment period as they truly have been the best of buds and nearly always together for the last 6 years. Having Sarah gone from before 7 am until 3:45 pm every day is going to take some getting used to - I think even more so for Elizabeth as she is the one still home with me. I have doubled down on finding some homeschool groups for us to meet up with in order to give Elizabeth the opportunity to meet new people. Out of all of the states we have lived in Indiana has the most lax homeschooling laws, but is also the hardest to find groups to join. Most of the groups I find online lead to me web pages that are old or no longer in use. I have a feeling that most people around here have contacts for homeschooling through their churches; since we don't attend church this has been a bit of a frustrating journey with many, many dead ends. If I am anything though, I would definitely classify myself as persistent, when I need to be. I will keep working at it until I find some place for us to meet other homeschooled families. We certainly cannot be the only people homeschooling in this state.
Sarah came home from school so tired she napped. She had a good day, a better day than she even hoped for. I was so happy for her when she came home and described her day. Josh was able to eat lunch with Sarah yesterday, but will not normally share her lunchtime. This means that until she meets some people of her own to eat with she will most likely be eating alone. I try not to focus on that too much because it is a bit heartbreaking for me, but I need to remember that eating alone is a way of life for some kids; for the time being at least, my kid is going to just have to be okay with that. Maybe this will even be a good thing as it will force her to open up a bit and reach out to others to form friendships. Normally, she will just hunker down inside of herself and not make any effort at all to meet new people.
Josh had a good day as well. He likes all of his teachers except one or two, but that is probably pretty par for the course. Unbeknownst to us, he is taking two classes that are college credit eligible. Hopefully, he will do well enough in each of them to walk into college next year with six credits under his belt. I know that many kiddos have a ton more credits than that, but I wasn't expecting my boys to have any when they entered into college, so this is a welcome unexpected surprise.
Overall, I would say that yesterday was a very successful day for all. I feel very hopeful that this is going to be an amazing school year for everyone.
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