Adjustments

School has officially be in session here in Maine for one week. How is it going?

It's going.

I always thought Mairead would come home everyday for the first few months of school loving life, but I guess I was a bit wrong. Last Thursday, on school day numero dos she says "I cannot wait until it is a no school day". Um, really? Already?

I keep having to remind myself (and others) that this year is almost like her "Kindergarten" year. She didn't go to school last year. She didn't even go to preschool. We enjoyed our leisurely, mostly unstructured days, learned the things we wanted to learn, and learned by doing. A bit different this year.

It's been an adjustment for Mairead having to get up and at 'em without any time to "relax" in the morning. It's immediately out of bed. Get dressed. Brush teeth. Make bed. Do hair. Eat breakfast - which is the hardest thing for her to do as she claims she is not hungry. She's whiny. She even cried this morning over nothing.

This morning in the shower with Lilah and Mairead, I asked Lilah if she was excited for her first day of preschool. She exclaimed a big "YESS!" and then I asked Mairead the same.....but there wasn't any exclamatory sentences, just a big downer "NO." - I asked why. She said there is no playtime at school. She's right. Schools are just different than they used to be. Kids learn by sitting the vast majority of the day. Recess and lunch are for socializing and playing, but that is it, every other minute must be accounted for. So from preschool to homeschool to a structured 6 hour day of 1st grade, it's been a big adjustment for her.

I often question our decision to put Mairead back in school, but she was adamant about going. She likes it when she is there (loves all her friends!), but when she is home she says she misses me and her sisters (and I miss her, too!). She also claims she is "bored" - which I think will change once the teacher grasps levels of the other children. I know homeschooling the kids with Kevin gone midweek isn't the best option now, it just wouldn't be easy. I know that she will adjust like all the other kids do, it's just going to take time. I will continue to encourage her to enjoy school and hope someday we will be a homeschooling family again - even if it is just for another year here and there.