Beginnings

Tomorrow Sam heads back to school as a 2nd grader. Today we went and met his teacher (turns out he'll actually have two - more on that in a minute) and saw his new classroom. It was so sweet to see him greet and hug various teachers, all while grinning madly. I think he's more excited to return to school then he's letting on. And I'm so glad we won't be going thru any of the drama we went through last year with switching schools.

If I've not mentioned it before, the elementary school he goes to is pretty small. There are only 1.5 second grade classes, the .5 being a split 2nd/3rd grade class. He's in the 2nd grade room, sharing it with 23 other students. His teacher, Mrs. S., explained that because there were so many kids that he and several other students would be going over to Mrs. T's room in the afternoon for math and science. They will be joined by the 2nd graders from the split class. Other than the obvious benefit of being able to work with & teach a smaller class more effectively, Sam will have the advantage of knowing ALL of the 2nd graders since he'll spend the first half of the day with one class and the last half with the others. I think he'll enjoy that.

I think it's going to be a good year for him. I liked his primary teacher, Mrs. S.; she's young and has a child of her own, which I think lends another level of patience and understanding to a teacher. His math/science teacher is an older lady that has been teaching for years and seems very kind and calm. Lord knows she's gonna need with it a herd of 2nd graders!

All in all, I'm in a MUCH better frame of mind about the start of this school year than I was last year. Man, but I sure struggled with it last year. While I'm still going to miss my boy, I'm excited to see what the year brings. I plan on helping in his classroom as much as I can, joining his for lunch during the week, and going on field trips of course. I'm glad that he'll be back with his friends, continuing his friendships, and working on his tetherball skills. I think he'll be happy and that makes me happy.

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My Zoë-girl starts off on her educational adventure next week, when she joins the preschool crowd. She'll be going two mornings a week and, while she's excited about it now, we'll see how she reacts when Momma walks out the door. I hope that she'll be fine and can just embrace it and have a great time. Stay tuned.
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Since everyone is going back to school and getting new school clothes and pencils, I wanted to join in the fun. I'm working on getting enrolled in the local community college and am going to tiptoe back into the classroom (online) and start working towards a degree. I think I've finally figured out what I want to be when I grow up.

It's only taken 38 years and a couple kids to show me that I really just want to play with school supplies and kids all day. So, I think I'm going to pursue a degree in elementary education in hopes of being a teacher. I mean, what better schedule to have when you have kids yourself? My kids are just starting off in their education and considering that I actually really LIKE my kids and WANT to be part of their lives, I can't think of a better job to have than one that gives me weekends, holidays and summers off with them.

I know it's going to be challenging at times; I work almost full-time, have two small kids and a husband, a house on 5 acres, I keep signing up for half marathons which require some training, I have friends I like to see and hobbies I like to pursue, plus I'm trying to go back to school.

It's never going to get any easier. And if I don't start, I'll never finish.