First week of school

My boy is a kindergartener. Kindergarten. KINDERGARTEN!!! He rides the school bus. He carries a back pack. He has homework.

Today was day 2 of Kindergarten. Yesterday morning, he was complaining about having to go to school. When the bus came, he climbed on like a pro. No backward glances. I'll admit it, I got a little teary eyed. When he got home, he said to me, "Mommy, it was more fun than you said it would be! It was better than the whole wide world." Which means that he had a good day.

Today, he got on the bus, didn't even acknowledge that he was leaving us. And so the journey begins.

We had parent night at the school tonight. His teacher, as we introduced ourselves to her, said, "Oh yes. TPJ is reading." We laughed and said, "Yes, yes he is. He keeps us rather busy." As she went over the curriculum later in the evening, Aaron kept whispering under his breath that TPJ already knew this and that. And it's true. He can read. He can add and subtract. He is a pretty bright little boy. But I think kindergarten is going to be good for him. He thrives on school.

My firstborn. My son. There's something so exquisitely bittersweet about this time in our lives. I wouldn't want to keep TPJ a child forever, but at the same time, the past five years have flashed by us. It boggles my mind. I want him to go back to that sweet, compliant two year old. Or that questioning three year old. Or that social four year old. This five year old school child is a stranger to me. It makes my heart swell with pride and pain, all at once.

In other news, I'm considering truly chopping the hair off. Short, very short. QE, I already know your reaction. I have 6 days til my hair appointment to think about this... I've had the same hair for nearly two years, different lengths, but the same haircut. Aaron is laughing at me. If you've ever been in my house, you've seen the gallery of hairstyles from the past ten years. To have had the same basic hairstyle for the past two years is killing me. I love changing my hair. I haven't colored it in who knows how long. I haven't done anything drastic in an even longer time. Bleh.

I'm tired. Starbuck is wearing me out. It is now time to do the controlled crying it out method with her. I hated doing it with TPJ, but it works. The hardest part for me is not picking her up in the middle of the night. I know, there are those who disagree with this method of sleep training, and so be it. But the reality of things is this: Starbuck would be attached to me 24/7 if I let her. She will sleep all night long, as long as she can feel me beside her. I'm not into the family bed thing, so that's not a real option in our home. I don't sleep well when I'm sharing a bed with my baby. I never fall into a deep sleep. And I can't function like that. So, tonight, we do the back patting, binky putting in, and had holding. No picking her up. Sigh. Wish us luck!

Off to get TPJ resettled into bed! He wanted to read for a few minutes, so he got out of bed to get a book.... sigh.