The Daily Hailey

It is FINALLY here! The first day of school for Master Dekker and Miss Laela. They are READY! Honestly, so am I. Not in a “I don’t want to hang out with them anymore” kind of way. But I know they need to get back into the structured routine of school, and I needed to snuggle into my new normal, however it will look.

Dekker is just freshly eight years old, and he is READY for school. He’s in a 3/4 split class this year, which will be a stretch for him, hopefully in such a positive way! I’m also hopeful he’ll pick up a bit more french with his homeroom teacher also being the school’s french teacher 🙂 I loved french in school, and I hope he does, too. Dekker told me today he wants to be a miner when he grows up. I asked him what he thought it meant to be a miner, and he said “Searching for gold?” Ah yes, a gold miner. Thats my kind of miner!!

Laela will turn six later this month, and she too is SO ready! You’d never guess her to be five, unless maybe you heard her high little voice 🙂 Laela aches for learning. I’m excited to get her back into the swing of homework, reading, writing, and see that confidence rise and rise. I admit, I’m sad her beautiful little group of friends got split up so much this year, but an opportunity for new friends is always nice, too. When I asked her today, Laela told me, when she grows up, she wants to give food to people who don’t have any. I loved that.

Something I also really like about school right now is that it very naturally shifts Dekker and Laela into friends. They bicker a lot, and they still do during the school year, but school is something they can relate on. Plus walking to and from school together gives them one-on-one time they don’t otherwise get. I love the dynamic. It seemed they were ready to get a jump on that before they even left this morning!

As per my request, lol, I walked the kids to school today. They both asked to bike, but humored me 😉 It was nice. They were SO happy.

They talked nonstop, and I somehow ended up holding both of their hands and walking in a line of three all the way to school!! It was nice to run into their friends along the way and see who lives where. I missed out on some of the social aspect of school last year with them always walking on their own, and truthfully, I’ll likely miss out on it again this year, but I do like knowing they have people along the walk that they like who watch out for them.

I let Dekker off by his boot room rather than taking him to his classroom. He’s a veteran now, totally unafraid of school. He knew where his classroom was, he knows his teacher already, and he wanted to play on the playground. So I hugged him and let him off. I walked Laela to her boot room and helped her find where her shoes went. And out of nowhere, Dekker showed up, laughing, saying he was actually in the same boot room as her this year! It made a lot of sense in reference to where his classroom is. But he wasn’t rattled at all by the change, and just laughed as he found the spot for his shoes.

I took Laela to her room and helped her heave her backpack into her little cubby. We pulled out her new indoor shoes, and then went to meet the guinea pigs! Exciting to have class pets! Then she found the desk with her name on it and examined her new pencil case filled with fresh supplies that were all hers. That seemed to seal the deal. When I was about to leave, I saw her chin tighten up a little, and there was a moment where I thought she might cry. She said she wished I could stay and I told her she’d forget about me completely in the next ten minutes or so 😉 I gave her a bigger hug and she actually seemed more relaxed. So I smooched her and teased her a little, and then I left. And she was ok 🙂

Dekker’s classroom was on my way back to the boot room, and I stuck my face in so I could see where he would land. He was getting himself organized at his locker, and he seemed happy 🙂 His class was bursting with people, so I didn’t go in, but he was so close to the doorway that I harassed him a little from the hallway. I saw he had some of his closer friends in his class this year who he hadn’t had around last year, so thats a really happy thing. He seemed totally happy to be there 🙂 I called him over to me and I asked for a hug, and he stuck those big sucker fish lips out me for a smooch, which I did NOT turn down. I feel like that won’t always happen, so I’ll take every smooch I can get!

It felt SO good having them back at school! Again, not because I don’t want them home. They really like school, and I love that! I’m so happy they’re happy there. Ha! “Happy they’re happy there.” Repetition joke. Also lame.

Okaaaaay so I’ll let you know how it went tomorrow!! Happy first day back!