For the very first time, instead of having misty eyes and heart palpitations over the idea of my biggest duckling waddling away to kindergarten in three weeks, I am actually excited.
Gracie is going to thrive in kindergarten. She loves to learn, she loves arts and crafts... And, well, my boy-crazy five-year-old will be surrounded by a room of cute little boys, seven hours a day, five days a week, so I can only assume she'll be a happy clam.
But what makes me excited, is the fact that for the first time in her 3.5 years of life, it'll be just me and Annelie.
My kids aren't in preschool or day care, and are stuck together with me all day long. Add to that the fact that neither one of them has had any parent/child one-on-one time, and you can imagine just how sick of each other they are.
And if you can't imagine it, let me tell you - the kids are sick of each other. All they do is FIGHT.
As a special "farewell, you're off to kindergarten" treat, my hubs took Gracie away for a 2-day daddy-daughter road trip, leaving me and Annelie - who was diagnosed with mono last week - home alone in an effort to keep the rest of West Texas mono-free.
Did she mind? Why, no, she most certainly did not.
- Art whenever she wanted without Gracie saying her picture wasn't pretty.
- Sitting next to me, scribbling stories (or the letter A on repeat) in her brand new notebook, while I worked on my own book.
- Any show she wanted to watch on TV, without Gracie saying her choices were babyish (although Gracie loves Blue's Clues and Little Bear, so really, she's not one to talk)
- Mommy-playing-Barbies time, which usually never happens as I hate playing with toys (I know, I'm one of those no-fun mamas).
- And, the creme de la creme as far as Annelie was concerned: I handed over her very first Sharpie and a stack of fancy drawing paper, and let her go nuts with it.
Yup, folks, Tootsie and Grace is back in action, and in a few weeks, there will be some awesome new additions by my littlest Tootsie Pop.
There's something about the art of a three-year-old that is flat-out fantastic and now that Gracie's art is more sophisticated (um, and filled with pictures of Harry Potter or Justin Beaver - er, Bieber...), I haven't wanted to add any of her current work to Tootsie and Grace. But Annelie is an amazing artist and her illustrations will fit in our shop perfectly! Check out her latest, waiting to be colored in by me:
Yeah, I sort of think my kids are artistic geniuses. What can I say? I'm their mom. It's my job to think they are UNBELIEVABLE in all that they do.
Gracie can not wait to start kindergarten. Now that Annelie has discovered what life is like as an only child, she can't wait for Gracie to start kindergarten, either. And now that I remember what it is like having only one kid around me in the day... let me just say, next year will be BLISS.
Ahhhh... no more fighting all day, every day. I can't wait!
Happy weekend, folks!
10 comments:
That will be a wonderful time for you two! Ever since my now 8yo went to school, Coop and I have had many "just the two of us" days and they are wonderful. I find it harder to make time to have just me and 8yo days though...so be sure to fit them in somehow as well...weekends or what-not.
And thank you for admitting you are one of those moms that doesn't like playing with toys...I'm so not either! I've just always been afraid to admit it out loud :)
Eleanore will hopefully be going away to school too (we won't find out until the week before! Gah!!), and then it will just be me and my youngest babies. I don't know what I'll do with myself. It will be weird. Not only will I be adjusting to life with our newest, but I'll be missing my oldest. So strange.
I hope the brownies helped brighten Annelie's no-family-visits-allowed-because-of-getting-mono spirits :)
Aww...she is going to love school. Cade is sad that he doesn't get to start this year (he has a late bday). Maybe Annelie won't get too bored without her.
Enjoy your one-on-one time with Annelie. I am sure both your daughters will enjoy this year!
I have a special year coming up, too. My youngest daughter is entering the grade I teach. (5th grade) Since my grade level team plans on rotating the homerooms through our science and social studies units, I will teach my daughter's class at least two units. That should be interesting!
I told her that she will either have to call me Mrs. Salerni or let the rest of the class call me Mom, just to be fair.
Heather - yes, I'm really looking forward to it, now! And yeah, I can see how hard it might be to have one on one with the school aged kiddos, especially as the younger ones are always around. But yes, it's so important!
Tia - The brownies were FAB! You rock!! And as for Elie, I'm sure she'll have a blast, getting away from the babies and playing with kids her age!!
Nikki - Aww... poor Cade. Well, that gives him more time to bond with baby Henry!
Dianne - Wow, how funny about teaching your own daughter! That definitely should be interesting!!:D
I wish the school district would have let Amelia into Kindergarten this year. She still could if I could pay for private K...but that ain't happening unless I get a job. When Merrick was first born I had her in part time preschool and it was just him and me, but he was so little. I know it would be different now. I'll be in your boat this time next year!
this just *really* makes me look forward to when my kid's drawings start to look like things, LOL. At 2 1/2, he has to tell me what his pictures are "it's a Neil Diamond song, Mama." "that's Papa, and that's Baby Bella."
Alyssa - enjoy them together while you can!! I know I'm going to miss my girls playing together all day, even if I am excited to have one-on-one time with Annelie
Leah - First of all, how is it possible that Andrew is so big already!! Second, that kid never fails to crack me up!! :D
ohmigosh is that a BELLYBUTTON in that one drawing?! You're right, artistic genius!
On my first day of kindergarten, my little brother (3 years old at the time) cried and cried as I left the car. Mom asked him if he was going to miss me, and he sobbed, "No! I thought I was gettin to go to school too!"
I am totally giggling, and I only have two dogs! Sometimes you just need to lighten the load a little bit... hope your year of bliss is all that you dream it to be! ♥
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