Up so early! Before dawn (sunrise in Madison today: 6:23 a.m.). The cats are surprised but delighted. An early feeding for them. The chickens are out and about. Wait, what? Their coop opens at 8! Oh boy: Ed forgot to lock it last night. Well, we're lucky: all hens accounted for.
It's a beautifully misty morning. Looking out from the barn onto the peach orchard, you can't help but feel the enchantment.
A new day. A new season really. And a new school year for the three kids here (and for one in Chicago -- the second city girl started last week).
Since my first year as a grandmother, I've been taking pictures of the first day of school for the three locals. Initially they lived close by and so it was a no big deal thing. Now they live a little farther, but it still is worth the early drive to their home...
(I grab a coffee and a piece of plum cake for the car ride)
... because frankly, it's just exciting to be in the thick of the morning of first day chaos, excitement, trepidation, hope.
Their schedule is complicated because each of the three is now going to a different school and the schools aren't even in the same driving direction. The morning is staggered. Sparrow goes first (his starts at 7:45), then Snowdrop (at 8:20) and Sandpiper (also at 8:20 but in the opposite direction!).
With kids, there are always firsts and lasts. After ten years of having a kid at the Montessori preschool, this will be the last year there -- Sandpiper will begin their local public school next year. Sparrow, as the middle child, is neither last nor first, but I suppose you could say it's a first for him to be alone at the elementary school, without Snowdrop down the hall. Because his big sister (Snowdrop) has moved on. This year she starts Middle School (they begin with 5th grade here).
Snowdrop will always be the trail blazer, whether she likes it or not. The one who moves on as the rest watch and learn. Today, she has her mom crying ("they grow so fast!")...
... and she herself admits to being nervous as I drop her off. Still, she walks with confidence. She has made that leap.
I return to the farmhouse in time for breakfast with Ed.
The day passes quickly -- in a flurry of light chores, and then, of course, returning to the pick up routines. Tuesday is Snowdrop day (Sparrow dances after school) and I get to her school early so that I can figure out the best strategy for future pickups. It's not easy. The school is huge -- some 1200 students spread over four grades, so that in fact, Snowdrop's fifth grade has a good 300. She has very few elementary school friends in any of her classes. And yet, the girl is happy at pick up. I mean, they have lockers, and lunch is no longer with assigned seating, and when the bell rings, you just walk out the door! No one directing you, lining you up, telling you to wait. Oh the joys of inching closer to young adulthood!
A later start to Snowdrop's day means a later finish to it and thus a shorter time at the farmhouse. She realizes this today as we run through our reading time together. Where did the time go?? Still, it was a good day for all three kids (and the Chicago kids as well). Reconnecting with friends, learning about newcomers (gaga, there's a girl in my gym class who is from the Ukraine, and she also speaks Russian and Polish because she lived there for a while!). That's school, isn't it? At least to me, this other aspect of it -- joining a community of people who are not your family, and making it work -- it's huge for all the kids in schools everywhere!
In the evening I exhale. Hey, first days of school can be stressful, right?
with love...
