School days

Emily and Xander started kindergarten last week. They didn't go to preschool and they've never been to any kind of daycare, so as you might imagine, this is a pretty big deal for Debbie and I. Debbie more so than me. I have to leave them five out of seven days just about every week, but she's hardly been away from them since they've been born. In fact, I think it's fair to say she spent more time away from Emily and Xander their first week of school than she had the entire five years and four months prior.

She handled it pretty well, all things considered. Admittedly, I thought she would be an inconsolable mess on their first day at school, but she surprised me. I was proud of how strong she was, even as we left the two of them in their classrooms. She has Luke to keep her company while they're away, so I'm sure that helps.

We made the decision to split them up into separate classes. We thought this was important for a number of reasons, chief of which was simply that they had never really been apart for extended amounts of time and neither one had ever really been alone in social situations with children of their own age group. We wanted to make sure they're given the opportunity to develop as individuals. Xander needs this more than Emily, I think. When meeting new people, Emily has always been the one to communicate, while Xander is allowed to retreat to a safe distance. We felt that, if they were in the same classroom, Xander's social skills might suffer.

The transition to school went smoothly and they're both doing great. I know it's just their second week, but I think they'll be fine. There's no bellyaching in the morning when it's time to get ready for school. Well, unless you count the usual complaints about uncomfortable clothes, but we've been living with that for years and it certainly has nothing to do with school. They both go out the door with their oversize backpacks and climb up into the school bus without so much as a whimper. And Luke seems to be having no trouble adapting to being the only child in the house for a while every day. He doesn't have to compete for Mom's attention anymore, at least for those few hours while his brother and sister are at school.

You know, before they started school, I was most worried about Emily and Xander being in the care of someone else for several hours every day and this was the thing that I thought would be the most difficult for me to get used to. I was wrong. The strangest thing to me about this transition, and the idea that I may never get used to, is that they are learning things now that we are not teaching them. I guess I just assumed that Debbie and I would always be the ones to shape their minds until they were ready to take over for themselves. But now there's someone else who is given the opportunity several times per week to impart knowledge upon them and to influence their beliefs, priorities, opinions, etc. That, to me, is pretty scary.

I guess I should have expect this, but I didn't. Though it might not be such a bad thing. As long as it helps to make them good people and as long as it doesn't change them so drastically that they become different kids, I'm all for it.

Exciting times. Scary, but exciting.