Back to School - Catching up part 2

While I’ve been driving back and forth to St. Louis, Miriam, Mikaela and Jonathan have been going about the business of starting new school/day care situations, new extra-curricular activities, and new neighborhood activities. Miriam, with at best a minimum of help from me, pulled together some 40 trash bags full of outgrown baby and children’s clothes and got them organized for the neighborhood garage sale. And that was while continuing to successfully run her own law practice and handle the kids’ daycare/school/activities with my sporadic assistance.

Mikaela started school and Jonathan started daycare at the JCC Child Development Center on the same day back on August 18. Mikaela has taken to school like a fish to water. At the moment, her biggest challenge is adjusting to being asked to write properly. She already knows how to form all of the letters. But she doesn’t always write them “correctly” - the right height and width and on the correct line. It’s been frustrating for her being told that she needs to do something she thinks she already knows how to do differently. But Miriam’s got some elementary school lined paper and helped her practice, and it’s already getting better. Hopefully, handwriting isn’t genetic - because given both my and Miriam’s handwriting, the poor kid is in for a world of trouble if it is. Today, Mikaela got to fill the “Mystery Bag” and share something of herself with her class via what she put in the bag. Mikaela chose to share her headband collection (she’s very into the idea of collections these days). Mikaela also enjoys the AKK program at the JCC. In addition to making her lunch as noted previously, her favorite thing is being the first one picked up by the bus for the ride to the JCC.

Jonthan’s adjustment to the CDC has been a bit more challenging and has taken longer. For the first two months of his time at the CDC, Jonathan WAILED when he was taken there. He’d start as soon as he was being strapped into Miriam’s car in the morning (since, to him, getting into Mommy’s car in the morning meant going to the CDC). He’d try to keep from getting buckled in and tell us, “no way, no way!” He’d also cling to whoever dropped him off at the CDC, whether it was Miriam or me, and continue to cry even when after we’d left him. The morning tears started ending sooner a couple of weeks ago. And finally, this week, a breakthrough! Since Tuesday, Jonathan has gone to the CDC in the morning without complaint. Yesterday, he refused to take off his Diego backpack, but he didn’t cry when Miriam left. And then today, not only did he let Miriam put his back away in his cubby, but he walked into his classroom at the CDC on his own, trotted right over to the other kids, and didn’t even give Miriam a second glance.

Whew! That should make mornings at our house MUCH more pleasant moving forward.