Zuri was really excited for third grade. She had more nerves than normal going into back-to-school night, but after meeting her teacher and finding out she knows some of her classmates, she felt better. She is loving third grade so far. Some of her best friends are in a different class this year, so she is making new friends. She is in the elementary school "crush" phase. Looking back, I remember going through it myself, but as a parent it is harder for me to know how/when to draw the line between acceptance and teaching. There are a couple of boys that she really likes and one she calls her boyfriend. They play kissing tag--where she chases him and says she will kiss him. Yes, my little Zuri is the instigator. To my knowledge she has never actually caught him and kissed him, but that is the part that is hardest for me. Intellectually I know that it is just kids being kids--I did it myself--but the adult/mother part of me wants to make sure that she understands he isn't really her boyfriend and that she shouldn't be kissing boys so young, and yadda yadda yadda. I can feel my younger self already rolling my eyes and tuning out. This parenting thing is hard. ;-) All I can do is teach her and hope that she listens better than I did. 
Kai started kindergarten! Five days a week in school for a few hours. I'm excited for him and for the new experiences he will get. He loved preschool and we saw genuine growth. Had we not had such a positive experience with preschool, I would have been apprehensive with him starting kindergarten, but it's a great school and I'm looking forward to not only the experiences he'll have, but the break for me. The day prior to his first day of school, his bus driver contacted me and said that she would be at my house at a specific time. Imagine my surprise when she showed up a full fifteen minutes early! She told me they changed her route on her. So I scrambled to get Kai ready. His school nurse arrived and because we were in a hurry, his suction bag was left behind. I took the bag to his school, which was both a good and bad. It was great to see his class and how everything was going, but when I got there, Kai was upset. If I hadn't had the girls with me, I would have stayed in his classroom longer to keep an eye on things. As it was, I dropped off the bag, and only loitered a few minutes. His school nurse is wonderful and was already working on getting him calm.
He had been happy all morning, and happy on the bus. I think he was expecting to go to his preschool class, so a new class and setting was a surprise. I think it'll take a couple of weeks for him to settle in before he's really comfortable. Two weeks seems to be his adjustment period for new things/people.
Overall, we're looking forward to a great school year! New experiences, new friends, and lots of fun!
