And so it begins

As of tomorrow, I will officially have TWO school-aged children.

Many of friends have been writing about the emotional aspect of having their child start kindergarten and trust me I get it. However, in many cases for them it is the their first child and maybe even their only child (or maybe even twins) so it is all very new. But for me, I have already been through this with Jake when he started kindergarten and not to take away from the hugeness of this experience or milestone for Jadyn but I guess it makes me at least less anxious about it. I am emotional in the sense that it strikes me how fast time has gone by. How it seems like just yesterday I was holding this beautiful baby girl in my arms and waiting for her first smile and now I am getting ready to send this spunky little 5-year old to elementary school.

While Jake gets to be the one to experience everything first, Jadyn is the one to experience everything last and that can be emotional as a mom as well. I remember being particularly emotional when she weaned from nursing but most of those lasts were celebrations as infanthood was not particularly my favorite stage. Yeah, no more diapers. Yeah, no more middle of the night wakings. Yeah, no more gross baby food.

While this milestone is a little more bittersweet, I think it makes a difference that Jadyn was never really babied just because she was the youngest in the family. I think it makes a difference that I know how ready she is and how well she will do both academically and socially. I think it makes a difference that my relationship with Jadyn works much better when we get breaks from each other. I think we are all ready.

And speaking of ready, I feel kind of jipped in the school shopping department (one of my favorite things ever!). California school are not allowed to require supplies as they provide everything the students need with exception of a backpack. Most schools, grades or teachers will have a suggested donation list of supplies and so I picked a few items off of those lists to donate to each of the kids classrooms. Then, to top it off, it will stay warm here usually through October, so while I do start stocking up on jeans and sweaters when they go on sale, the kids will mostly be in their spring/summer clothes for the first few months of school. This means the only real back to school shopping I get to do are shoes, socks, underwear, new toothbrushes and the aforementioned backpacks and lunch bags. I love the way Jake and Jadyn's choices are a clear reflection of what they are most interested in right now:

Only after I made these purchases did I find out that Jadyn's Kindergarten teachers have requested that students DO NOT bring backpacks to school. Urgh! I know they probably have a good reason but really? It was like the one thing I was able to get her.

Anyway, with summertime (for us) officially over and school starting tomorrow, I wanted to give a final tally of how we did on our summer fun to-do list. I am pretty proud of all that we accomplished in the "fun" department:

- swim in our pool as much as possible DONE

- go to the spa pools DONE

- swim lessons DONE, DONE and DONE

- go to the beach DONE

- go to the river with Kuma DONE

- attend a baseball game DONE

- stay in a hotel DONE

- go to the library to check out books and participate in the summer reading program DONE

- read books DONE

- go the park (Sunburst, Community, Knott Sky) DONE

- See Cars 2 and the final Harry Potter film in the theater DONE

- concert in the park DONE

- play hide and seek DONE

- play with bubbles DONE

- play with the water table - missed this one

- watch all the Star Wars movies again for family movie night(s) DONE

- play board games more often - not as good with this one

- have friends over to play and spend the night DONE

- see fireworks DONE

- BBQ as much as possible - not as good with this one

- visit the kittens at the shelter DONE and DONE

And here is a glance at our Fall schedule:

Monday - school for Jake and Jadyn, Jadyn soccer

Tuesday - school for Jake and Jadyn, Jake soccer

Wednesday - school for Jake and Jadyn, Jadyn soccer

Thursday - school for Jake and Jadyn, Jadyn ballet (starting Sept 8th), Jake soccer

Friday - school for Jake and Jadyn, family movie night

Saturday - soccer games for Jake and Jadyn (starting Sept 1oth)

Sunday - RELAX, catch up

I can't wait to get started on our Fall Fun to-do list and the personal projects I have planned with the extra time I will have when the kids are in school. I love summer, but what I love about back to school and fall is the sense of order to it. This is usually my most productive time of year. For me, I make more changes now then with New Year's resolutions. And so it begins.....