Equal and Opposite

If I were to pull up a side by side comparison of LAST year's first day of school experience and THIS year's it would be like night and day.  (With this year being the day.  Haha.)  For one thing, no one was starting school cold turkey -- not knowing anyone or anything about the school -- and for another thing, we have FINALLY got the transportation situation perfected!  Haha.  If you'll recall from last year, the bus schedules and stops and information was such a mess I couldn't even deal with it.  Which resulted in me being everyone's Uber for almost the entire school year.  Sophie, Jane, and Alex rode their school bus HOME, but for all other pick ups and drop offs it was me.  And it was exhausting.  Flash forward to THIS year, and all my dreams are coming true!  Hahahaha.  Aside from a minor kerfuffle on Day 1, where I had to pick up Grace and a friend after school, I haven't had to do a single bit of driving!  Hip hip hooray!!!  :)

(The lighting was so much better 20 minutes after the older two left for school.)

But let's start back at the beginning: the First Day of School.  Even though I knew it was coming all summer long, and I'm pretty sure we got everything in order that we needed to, I still felt slightly frazzled and unprepared when the big day rolled around.  Thankfully, everyone was up and moving and ready to go with plenty of time to spare, and I was even able to get my requisite annual pictures in the process.  {Although, I never got a complete group shot because Ethan and Grace had to leave earlier than the others.}  Here's how the day went...

Ethan -- 11th Grade

Ethan is our designated high school driver this year and since the school parking lot is a joke and has nowhere near enough spots for everyone, we spent the evening before school started scoping out potential parking places around the school on the street.  I think that was Ethan's main worry for the first day of school -- that they'd have to park really far and thus walk really far and therefore not make it to class on time.  Thankfully, we were able to find enough options in close walking distance and we put that worry to rest.  As for how his school day went, it sounded like it was awesome!  I remember being so worried last year (for Ethan especially) about how hard starting a new school would be and how difficult it is to make new friends and find your place in a high school where most everyone else has been from the start of freshman year.  I'm pretty sure the only elaboration on last year's first day of school was that it was "fine."  THIS year was a completely different story.  Ethan was the first kid home (since his day starts the earliest) and he was totally up for humoring me with a play-by-play of the entire day.  And I do mean that literally.  Hahaha.  I always like to hear every single little thing that has happened for them on their first day of school.  Since the high school does A days and B days, he only had half his class schedule on that first day, but it seems as though he has friends (or at least acquaintances) in pretty much all his classes.  Such a happy turnaround from last year at this time!

Grace -- 9th Grade

(Grace's group chat/youth conference friends voted that she should wear a skirt plus her hair down for the first day of school, and somehow that was enough to convince her to do it.)

Grace, meanwhile, got to spend her first day of school hanging out with friends for about an hour and a half before school started since her day doesn't start until 8:50.  Technically, she could have slept in and just rode the bus to school (since early morning seminary doesn't start until next week), but she opted instead to wake up early and catch a ride with Ethan.  They picked up Gianna on their way, and I'm pretty sure Grace was more than happy to get some socializing in before heading to her first class of high school.  When I picked her and her friend Emma up after school, she was non-stop chattering about every little detail of her day, which is always a good sign.  ;)  Interesting anecdotes of her first 2 days include: she's the only freshman in her Child Development class; she has good teachers; the high school is "so easy" to find her way around in; and she likes B days more than A days.

Sophie -- 7th Grade

Sophie's main excitement of her first day of junior high was debuting her outfit, I'm pretty sure.  Hahaha.  J/K, j/k.  But I did think it was really cute to see how carefully both she and Jane had laid out their outfits the night before the big day.  Clothes shopping with Sophie is always an experience, and this time around was no different.  Because she had envisioned an overall dress for her back to school ensemble, we ended up going to a few different stores before finding the perfect one at Target.  Of course, she needed a shirt to go under the overall dress, and since there were too many cute options to choose from, I caved and let her get all of them.  What can I say?  I'm a softie when it comes to back to school shopping.  Hahaha.  Aside from having to run to catch the school bus this morning, I think her day went off without a hitch!  She really likes all her classes and she's really excited about dance and yearbook.  I don't think she has many (or maybe any) classes with her closest friends, but I think that will just lend her more opportunities to make new friends.  :)

Jane -- 5th Grade

Jane, Jane, Jane.  As I mentioned in a previous post, her first day of school outfit was rather particular as well.  A few weeks ago, she got it into her head that she really needed a jumpsuit for the day.   {In case you missed it, her must-have-look for last year was a romper.}  We found the perfect one online at Old Navy, and I have to admit that as much as I think jumpsuits (and rompers) seem SO awkward for going-to-the-bathroom purposes, this "vintage plum" colored linen jumpsuit was super cute and I actually really liked it.  Of course, my biggest worry for her was that she wouldn't be able to unbutton the back in time if she really needed to use the bathroom, but my concerns were moot, as she proudly informed me after school that she didn't need to use the bathroom at all that day.  Winning?  Hahahaha.  Jane started middle school this year, and I know she was a bit apprehensive (although still excited) about being at a new school and having to change classes and use a locker, etc.  She totally rocked it, though, and was excited to tell me how great the day was when she got home after school.

 Alex -- 3rd Grade

Alex, meanwhile, got to share his birthday with the first day of school ONCE AGAIN!  I think we managed to make it special enough by repeating last year's trick of going to Chuck E. Cheese for dinner that night, but really, I think the main reason he was fine is because this year he gets a friend party and he knows he has that to look forward to next week {once I can track down phone numbers for his friends at school that he wants to invite}.  Alex's day at school seemed to go just fine, and I know it was made a little easier by the fact that he's staying put at the same school this year.  {Funnily enough, all the boys are staying put at the same schools this year.  The girls, meanwhile, are all venturing off into new places.}

Isaac -- Preschool

And then there's Isaac.  Since he doesn't start preschool for another week or so, our first day home alone consisted of him screeching like a banshee for most of the morning because he wanted more screen time than I was willing to give him.  I remedied the crankiness by forcing him to take a nap that afternoon and (once he stopped throwing a massive fit) he conked out for a full 3 hours.  Yeah.  The kid needs some sleep.  Haha.

And there you have it!  This year's Back-to-School was a huge success, if you ask me.  :)

 Chuck E. Cheese time!

 The birthday boy!