First Days of School Part Deux

 We have been back at school for a week and a half IN PERSON! It hasn't been without its challenges, but overall, we've had a great start to the year. I personally had a lot of anxiety about it {which I've blabbed about incessantly so I will try to not rehash it all here}.

Originally the school stated we would be virtual for 4-weeks with the school reopening on September 17. But as we got closer, they announced a phased-in start. Only the 7th/8th graders would start on September 17. Primary {Paige} would start September 22, Lower Elementary {Drew} would start September 24, and Upper Elementary {Trent} would start September 28.

We decided to have Paige start the same day as Drew because we didn't think it would go over well with Paige getting out of the car by herself, I couldn't walk her into class, and she'd be going into a new class in a new school. So Drew and Paige started together on September 24.

We had to do 2 versions of our first day pic to show their masks and chains!

A co-worker of mine makes personalized mask chains, and they are so cute!

Drop-off went GREAT! Way better than I expected. NO TEARS from Paige, she just marched right in. And Drew had been SO EXCITED for days, she practically jumped out of the car! I was so happy!

I was nervous all day how the girls would do - Would the masks drive them crazy? Would Paige cry a lot? How would naptime go for Paige? What would recess look like? Well, at pick-up, I mostly got good news!!! The masks seem to be a non-issue thankfully! Paige said she cried a few times {including when she had to go to the nap room}, but I thought we had a successful day!

BUT...the rest of Thursday Paige kept saying over and over again that she didn't want to go back to school. She cried at bedtime and Friday morning about having to go to school the next day and drop-off was awful. She was sobbing and clinging to me, ugh.

Paige did request another picture on Friday morning!

We got snow cones Friday afternoon to celebrate!

On-and-off all weekend, Paige would bring up school and not wanting to go. Monday morning there were more tears while getting ready, tears in the car, tears when I got her out of the car. Trent, at least, had a good attitude about it all - he wasn't thrilled to be going back but knew he had to - that is HUGE for him!

Monday afternoon, everyone had stories for me. They kept talking over each other in their excitement to tell me about school. Trent made some friends, the big 2 were excited about multiple recesses, Paige painted a picture {that she said was for me and then changed it to being for Drew and Trent!} and was happy at pick-up but said she cried several times. 

Brent and I decided we would be lenient on screen time and give extra treats this week, since it's been so long since they've gone to school and we wanted to celebrate any victory. So Monday, I took everyone to Starbucks for a treat!

Tuesday and Wednesday involved lots of tears for Paige {Trent told her at drop-off on Tuesday 'I don't want to go to school either, but we have to.' That CRACKED me up.} But!!! On Wednesday at pick-up, Paige told me 'I finally had a good day!'

We ended the week on a high - each day drop-off got better and better, Friday there were no tears {although clinging to me} and walking into class independently and smiles at pickup. Trent's teacher also emailed me {I'm the class mom} about Trent being a 'treasure'!!!!!!! And Drew just loves school, her guide, and her friends!

I know it's early days, but I'm so happy with how things are going!!

September 2020 Book Review

I had been a little behind on my goal to get to 100 books this year, but this month I was able to catch-up and be right on track because I read 9 books. This brings my total for the year to 75, and we are 3/4 of the way through 2020. Yay!

A Court of Thorn and Roses series by Sarah. J. Maas - Y'all. This is not going to be up many people's alley, but I LOVED this series, and I am so excited that there are more books to come! I need everyone to suspend reality for a minute and get ready for some serious fantasy words here. This series follows a human girl, Feyre, who ends up living in a portion of the world {I think they're on Earth but none of the countries described are our countries} run by fairies {divided from the human world by a wall} who have magical powers. I feel like there's too much to say to make the plot make sense, but I LOVE these books and LOVED the world created here. I was obsessed with the building storylines, thought the character development was great, and I can't wait for more! The next book follows a secondary character, and I'm really intrigued and here for it. These are rated R. A little note that the 4th book I read {A Court of Frost and Starlight} is a short novella, and it wasn't as good - not much happened, but I enjoyed being back in this world, so I wasn't complaining. But it's like I gave 4 or 5 starts to the first 3 and gave that one 3 stars.

Stamped by Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds - Trent and I read this book together, and we both learned a lot! This is a non-history history book {says the authors} but it walks through the past of America and how racism started, grew, morphed, and how many names we know {Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass} have a more complicated story than a traditional history book has taught us and numerous names in history that Trent and I didn't know and the part they played in our racist history. It was very fascinating, but I feel like I need to read it again and do some additional research on a lot of the people mentioned. Trent seemed to really enjoy it too, and we had some good discussion from it too!

Once We Were Brothers by Ronald H. Balson - My company's local office started a book club!!!!!!! This was the selection for the first meeting, which was last week, and I was really excited because it was WW2 historical fiction, and y'all know how I feel about this genre! The story is about a Jewish Holocaust survivor, Ben, who in 2004 accuses a prominent Chicagoan of being a Nazi who changed his identity to avoid prosecution at the end of WW2 - and used to be his best friend. He hires a lawyer, Catherine, to help sue the Nazi. It jumps timelines as Ben tells the story of his youth in the past and Catherine prepares a lawsuit in the present. I really enjoyed both storylines but felt the dialogue in the present was at time very disjointed. One of the other people in book club commented that it is a male author writing dialogue from a female POV, and that made sense to me - it was like he didn't know how to write as a woman. But that wasn't so off-putting that I couldn't enjoy the book overall. There are further books with Catherine in the story, and I'd like to check them out.

The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth - I had a reserve on this book for 9 months, so I was really excited when it became available! This story is an alternating storyline with different POVs and different timelines. At the very beginning of the book, we find out that Lucy's mother-in-law, Diana, has died and it appears to be a suicide. We go back-and-forth from Lucy in the present to both Lucy and Diana in the past as we learn about the relationship between the 2 and how that plays into the present. I feel like this was a slow burn - I was pretty quickly into the story but little-by-little I found myself really vested in the outcome and really sad at the misunderstandings that led to the present. By the end I was very wrapped up in the story, I didn't expect the ending, and I was sad it was over!

Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake by Anna Quindlen - I got this book as a birthday present, and it was delightful. Anna wrote chapters covering all sorts of womanhood - work, motherhood, friendship, marriage - and I loved it all! The writing was beautiful and the sentiment really spoke to me, so happy I got this as a gift because I wouldn't have bought it myself and it was really, really enjoyable!

Majesty by Katharine McGee - This is the follow-up to American Royals which I read last November. As a reminder, this is about the American monarchy in the present day as if George Washington had become the King of America. Majesty picks up right where American Royals left off, and it was a great read. I loved all the little pieces of history the author creates - like California {called Orange} and Texas being their own monarchies and joining America, and all the different Aristocratic families. The first maybe 20% I felt like every character was really mopey as a leftover from where the cliffhanger was in American Royals. But the story really picked up after that, and I flew through it. Not a deep thinker or anything, but I liked it!

Trent and I just finished Stamped this week, so we haven't picked a new book to read. He also finished the last book in The Maze Runner series, so he needs a new book to read to himself too. It's hard finding stuff that is age appropriate for him that also keeps his interest!

Drew and I started Tuck Everlasting a couple of weeks ago, and it's an interesting read - it isn't very exciting {and we're about halfway through}, but she is enjoying it I think? She wants to watch the movie when we finish the book, which I watched years ago {over a week while pumping in a bathroom stall at a client}.

She is also continuing her silent reading with Magic Treehouse books. We checked some new ones out from the library last week. It finally seems like it's getting easier for her to read to herself without getting tired, but she is definitely not as interested in reading as Trent was. I really hope I can foster a love of reading in her!!!

And my favorite book of the month was the A Court of Thorn and Roses series, it CONSUMED my time and mind this month! If I had to pick a favorite book, it would be the 2nd book, A Court of Mist and Fury. I know this series won't be for everyone, but I LOVED it!

I have a lot of great books coming available this month from my library holds, can't wait to see how they all turn out! Happy reading!