Back To School!

So, Monday was the 1st day of school for both Angelina & Caroline! I swear that first day back is better than Christmas. New dresses, backpacks & lunch boxes for the girls - a clean house & some much needed down-time for me. Now for the details! Because the girls' schools start & end at the same time, I was extremely anxious about getting everyone where they needed to be AND on time. Thank God we live so close to both schools because the parking situation was an absolute nightmare. Not that walking to school in 100 degree heat is enjoyable, but it clearly beats trying to find a parking space while watching the minutes tick, tick away until the final bell rings!!! With respect to Caroline's drop-off, we could have abandoned her in the school parking lot & left. The child would have wondered into school, settled into a 3rd grade class & never thought twice about the entire thing. In fact, on Tuesday, she begged & pleaded with Bob & I NOT to walk her into the school gates- she kept yelling "Halt ... I don't need you, I know where to go". To her extreme disappointment, school policy mandates that I sign her in at the classroom, AND besides, who the hell doesn't walk their 4-year old into school!?! Now onto Angelina's drop-off. Well for as much as Caroline is indifferent, Angelina is sensitive. While she didn't need to hold my hand, she did need me to blow kisses at her as she disappeared into the school building.

Now, onto the pick-up. Luckily, my parents volunteered to pick Caroline up from school, so I could figure out the "car pick-up" situation at Grayhawk. This is the deal: Last year at kindergarten pick-up, Angelina's teacher physically placed her in our car. BUT this year, at the "big kid" pick-up, all of the children in grades 1-6 gather in one big loading zone & hop into their cars. Anyway, I arrived at the loading zone early & took great pride in being the 3rd car in line. Well, when 3 o'clock rolled around, Angelina was nowhere to be found. In fact, no parent in the pick-up car line waiting for a 1st grader could find their child. After about 5 minutes, I got out of my car, approached the principal who was overseeing the pick-up process & reported that Angelina was MIA. Talk about freaking out... I knew Angelina was somewhere, but the thought of her panicking & thinking I had forgotten to pick her up was enuf to make me throw-up! Turns out that the 1st grade teachers decided to hold-back all of their students until the older kids were gone, so that the little ones wouldn't feel intimidated. Unfortunately, none of the 1st grade moms received that memo!!!

So by the time Angelina & I arrived home I was feeling guilty for being late for Caroline's big arrival home. As soon as we walked in the door, I asked Caroline how her first day of school went. Caroline responded with, "You don't need to know that". WTF? I tried to bribe her with fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies, BUT she still refused to tell me anything - she just kept saying, "You don't need to know". Well despite Caroline's refusal to divulge any details, I did manage to uncover one tidbit: Neither kid peed at school (BTW, my Mother is cringing right now b/c I didn't use the word "tinkle"). Can you imagine going from 9 until 3 without peeing? Well enuf talk... Below are some photos from the 1st day of school... Are my girls beautiful or what?