Freedom....

Olivia and Katy had their very first day of Kindergarten today! We were all just a little bit nervous because not only was it their first time to go to a "real" school (as they called it), but it would be their first time to ride the school bus (something Katy has been looking forward to since Ryan's 1st day of Kindergarten!), and most importantly their first day to have different teachers.

Kevin and I went back and forth about the merits of keeping them together another year versus putting them in different classes, and we both feel very comfortable with our decision to split them up this year. Katy has such a strong, nurturing personality that she has a hard time letting Livy do things for herself (including answering questions). And Livy is perfectly happy letting Katy be her little servant and do her tasks for her, and has a tendency to mimic Katy's answers whenever Katy responds first. It's time for them both to learn to be a bit more independent of one another.

I had thought about contacting the principal of the school and asking that they be put with a teaching team (two teachers and two classrooms, but they have lunch, recess and enhancements together). But then I decided that I didn't want to be one of "those" parents--the pushy ones who is constantly intervening on behalf of their children. I prayed about it and put the whole thing in God's hands, and it worked out exactly as I had hoped.

Olivia has Mrs. Rogers who has been teaching Kindergarten for over 25 years. She was the school's Teacher of the Year last year, and she is just so warm, and fun, and nurturing. Exactly who Livy needs, really. Katelyn has Mrs. Wagner who has been teaching Kindergarten for 12 years. She is super friendly, and vivacious and affectionate. Exactly who Katy needs too. And they are one of the four Kindergarten teams--so their classrooms are right across the hall, and the girls will have lunch, recess, PE and field trips together. Thank you, God! And thank you, Mr. Todd!

They were both pretty excited this morning:





















Any pre-bus jitters they may have had were alleviated by their friends Mia (on the right) and Rory (on the left) who are in 1st grade this year. Each of the girls held one of my girls' hands and helped them onto the bus. Ryan helped out with carrying their big bags of school supplies.














They were both looking happy and proud as they got off the bus this afternoon. And one of the perks of Kevin working from home was that he got to be there for their homecoming.















They both had notes from their teachers in their Take Home folders to let us know how they did on their first day at the Rocking K Corral (the whole Kindergarten for the school uses a western theme for the year):




















And they both are looking forward to going back to school tomorrow, although Katy did comment that it was a really long day.