First Day of School

I am not one of those moms that is sad when school starts. My kids (and I!) do so much better on a routine and I love the excitement of the new school year. Also, this year, I was ready for a break! Let me tell you, the begnining of the school year here is no break! I had so much to do to get ready for the first day and then I have meetings, sign-ups, book covering, school payments, and the list keeps going and going.

All of that being said, the kids were very excited to start school (even Nolan!). The Friday before school started, we got to take in all of Nolan's supplies and meet his teacher, Ms. Angeles. He seemed to really like the classroom and we found out that he had a couple of friends in his class. I was very happy about that because he had such a hard time last year.

Ethan and Lydia started school on August 23rd. For Ethan, the process was to walk your kids into the school, check the lists at the front of the school, and then take them to their classrooms. We had no idea until that morning what classroom he would be in and who would be in there with him. Again, I was hoping he would be with a friend. Last year he was in a classroom with no native English speakers. It was fine, they all speak English to a point, but his closest friends are the other expats that we hang out with on a regular basis. There are about 5 in his grade that we see quite a bit (from Canada, India, US) and I wanted him to be in class with at least one of them. As it turns out, they are all in the same class! I was very happy for him and he was really excited.

Ethan ready for school with his new

uniform, backpack, and lunchbox

Sitting at his desk on the first day

Lydia is going to Casa de Los Ninos again this year. It's the same Montessori school she went to last year. She was excited for her first day of school and didn't cry! I was so glad that she was happy to be back. This will be the last year that she goes to a different school from the boys, I can't believe how big she's getting!

For the preschool at JFK, they started a little different. Nolan was supposed to have his first day of school on Tuesday, the 24th, and then start full-time on Thursday. Well, in good old Nolan fashion, he woke up Tuesday morning with a rash. Apparently it was just a virus, but, of course, it made him miss his first (and then second) day of school. It made me sad that he was missing out on the start of school. I was so glad that this year he was going to start with everyone else and know what was going on from the getgo. It didn't end up being a big deal, but it still made me worry. When he eventually did go to school on Friday, there were no tears, he remembered exactly where his classroom was, and had a great day!

What Nolan looked like on his first day of school

Nolan and his new lunchbox on what
ended up being his first day of school


At the front gate of his school, ready to go!

Nolan and two of his friends in his class, Vedant and Mya

All in all, a successful start to the new school year!