Last Monday, we began the back to school grind.  Although the girls were excited to start the school year, I wasn’t ready to let them go.

Every August,  I always suffer with more anxiety and butterflies about the start of a new school year than my girls do.  Will Emmalynn behave?  Will Allana be challenged? But this year, I had even more mama guilt than usual because I felt I didn’t spend as much time with them as I should have.  Our last few weeks together had been pretty uneventful due to a never ending nursing schedule with a newborn.

My youngest daughter, who was once referred to as my baby before the arrival of our newest baby, entered kindergarten.  To prepare for the big day, we had countless conversations this summer about how kindergarteners behave.  Kindergarteners don’t pee their pants.  Big girls need to be responsible for their belongings.  Kindergartners need to know how to write their name.

Emmalynn has never been one to give a full account of her days at school and what she does remember always seemed so random.  Therefore, I learned to rely on notes from her teachers or other moms to share information or stories about what goes on in the classroom.  When I picked her up after her first day, Emmalynn reported that she did not get a lollipop and the details behind that situation are still uncertain.  However, she happily reported, “Mommy, Kindergartners do not have rest time.”

Allana enters third grade this year and she now faces FCAT (Florida’s standardized test – Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test) every academic year.  Over the summer, shifts and changes occurred at her school with the staff, including the principal which caused me to worry about her placement, because Allana needs a teacher who will challenge her.

Allana hoped for a teacher who was warm and friendly as well as challenging, but mostly she hoped that her best friend, Nikki, was in her class.  So far thankfully, everything seemed to work-out just as we hoped.

Even Emmalynn seemed off to a good start.  She may not have been given a lollipop, but a happy face, a sticker, a pencil and a new book made for a fabulous first day.

Until the next day, she “washed” her hair with hand sanitizer and by Friday, she lost her new glasses.  *sigh*  Looks like we need another conversation on responsibility and how kindergarteners don’t wash their hair at school.

In the end, the girls we survived the first few days daze of school and thankfully, it was a successful one.

*Proudly submitted at GMYBS, Photo Story Friday and Finer Things Friday.*