First Day's' of School

I know, I know, I am kind of late but now I can squish Spencer and Benjamin's first days together even though they started 9 days apart. Spencer's first day was Monday the 25th. He was so excited. He couldn't get to sleep the night before. I remember having an anxiety dream every year the night before school started. They would usually consist of me being half dressed or not being able to find any clothes at all and having to wear my pajamas. As I got older they changed to not being able to find a class or losing my schedule or locker combo. I still have them every now and then. I don't panic quite so much but it is very unsettling none the less. Spencer was so worried that he would not wake up on time to take the bus. He got up and joined us in our bed a couple times before I finally convinced him my alarm really was set and I promised he would not be late. He was still up and dressed by 6:30. He had a hard time waiting over an hour to leave. He looked so handsome. Thanks to a couple great sisters with boys just a couple years older than Spencer I didn't need to buy any new clothes except for sox and shoes. He even let me do his hair and didn't complain that his shirt had buttons. That was a bit of a conflict last year. He wouldn't wear any shirt with buttons. And he has insisted on fixing his own hair as of late. We made another "deal" to deal with that. I get to do his hair on Sunday and he can do it nicely for school, and on Saturday he can do anything he wants. That usually turns out to be crazy spikes or a faux hawk of some sort. It works for us and keeps the arguing and pouting to a minimum.

Waiting for the bus with Gage and Dace (yes, he made it on time)

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Spencer was also very excited to have a man for a teacher. I think it is great. Especially for the third grade. I think it is important for boys this age to see men reading and teaching and doing school type stuff. I don't want him to think that only girls or women find education important and fun. Gary does so good at making sure he reads to the kids but he isn't home when it's time for homework. Well, Spencer had a great first day. He even had homework. I like him to have homework every night. I know that sound weird but I want him to know that I think school work is important and I want us to make time for it every day. Spencer is so bright and smart I know he will have a great year.

Now for Benjamin's first day. Benjamin is so different from his brother. He doesn't worry and stress about things. He just kind of takes what comes and thinks that whatever it is, it is great. He is happy to start kindergarten. After three years of preschool he is more than ready. We have tried really hard to not say we held him back or that we started him late. We still think that we made the right choice to not start him in kindergarten last year. His birthday is so close to the cut off. The only thing we would have done differently is not have him in preschool when he was three. But we didn't know then that we would be waiting to start him. We won't make that mistake again. I think we will only plan on one year of preschool for the next ones. Anyway, Benjamin is going to have a great year. He is so prepared and very excited. I think it will be good for him to be a little older than the rest of the kids. He has a tendency to just go with the flow. That is definitely not a bad thing but I would love for him to learn to be more assertive and make decisions for himself more. He too was so excited to take the bus to school. I am very happy that Spencer will be there with him. That takes a lot of the worry out of my mind. When he went to bed last night I wanted to snuggle and talk to him about school so I laid down with him. I started talking and he said, "You can lay with me but I need to go to sleep." Well alrighty then. I can take a hint.

Dace, Spencer, Gage, Benjamin, Dylan, and Trever

I had to wake Benjamin for school this morning. He is a really good sleeper. I asked if he wanted me to take him or if he wanted to ride the bus. I already knew the answer. I guess I was just hoping he would surprise me. We was so excited to ride the bus with Spencer and all the other boys in our neighborhood. There are three of them starting kindergarten today. Spencer was so nice to Benjamin this morning. He was telling him he would sit with him on the bus and show him to his class room. They are such good friends.

Could he be any cuter?

Off and Running

After the bus left I hopped in the car and drove to the school. I just couldn't bear the thought of Benjamin feeling lost or not getting to his class alright. I know that sounds pathetic but he is so tender and quiet around people he doesn't know. I was worried that he wouldn't ask for help if he needed it. When he got off he was too busy yakking with his friends to even notice me. But I'll console myself by pointing out that he walked right past his class. I pointed him in the right direction, snapped another photo and left. 12:00 rolled around pretty quick and the bus came to drop them off. Thumbs up for a great first day.