Another Year at St Paul

Thursday night was St Paul's Open House.  This is Jack's 4th year at St Paul and Marshall's 1st, so I feel like I know the ropes by now.  In Jack's class, there are 15 kids, 13 of which are returning from last year.  Looking at the list of kids and their birthdays, Jack is right smack in the middle with 7 kids older and 7 kids younger than him.  The 3 year olds are required to attend all 3 days, so it will be the same group of kids every day.  Jack has attended all 3 days since his 2nd year, so that's nothing new to him.  He had one of his teachers in the summer program, so I didn't think he would have much anxiety, but I should have known my child better.  I had to talk him into sitting in his chair next to 2 friends he already knew and then I had to convince him to get on the floor and play with a group of boys.  Marshall, on the other hand, wanted down the minute we walked into his classroom.  He immediately crawled over to the toys, started playing then reached over and yanked the hair of the child beside him, who then turned and ran crying to his parents!  So I have one child who will probably get his hair yanked all year and another that will do the yanking.  One of Marshall's teachers was also Jack's teacher when he was in the baby class, so I'm already comfortable with his caretakers and know it will be a great year!  Here's a picture I took of the boys before we walked out the door to go to the open house.  I don't usually match them because they don't really have that many matching outfits, but I couldn't resist.

Today was the boys' first day and I took these adorable pictures of them before leaving for school.  Even Marshall looks excited.  The night before I read "Lhama Lhama Misses Mama" to them, which is about little lhama going to his first day of school.  In the middle of the story Jack said to me that he didn't want to go to his new classroom.  He wanted to go to his old classroom.  This is when I began worrying about the morning ahead.

The day went well for Jack.  He walked right into his classroom without looking back, which was a relief.  Marshall objected to going to his teacher, but never really cried and when I walked by his room after dropping Jack off, he was on the floor playing with another kid.  However, the report I got back said Marshall was fussy, which I expected.  It's a hard schedule for his age because they really only allow for 1 nap/day while Marshall still takes 2.  I'm sure all the added activity didn't help, but I know he'll adjust just like Jack did.  Alesia said the Assistant Director actually made the comment that Marshall is a little pistol and nothing like Jack at all.  It's funny to me how evident it is that they truly are complete opposites even at this young age.  This was Marshall halfway through supper.  Poor baby couldn't hold his eyes open any longer. 

I am so blessed to have found such a great program for my boys to attend.  There's no better feeling than knowing they are well taken care of and enjoying themselves while I'm at work.