First Day of School

Tuesday marked the first day of school. All three kids were very excited, but of course there is a law against 15-year-old boys actually saying they are excited.

The Skink's bus comes the earliest - at 6:15 a.m.  As worried as I was about the early hour, she was already up playing when I went into her dark room. After getting dressed and ready, she finally got to put on her new back pack. It was a very exciting event!

And then we all admired her lovely back pack and well coordinated outfit (I actually didn't plan on dressing her to match her back pack.... we just have a LOT of pink).

Then, before the sun was even up, we went out on the front porch to wait for the bus... which was late. So The Skink took matters into her own hands and called it. That is, when it didn't show up in a timely manner, she started actually Calling "BUS! BUUUUUUUSSSSS!"

And then it finally came! The Skink proudly claimed her seat right behind the driver, helped put on her seat belt and off she went for the next 9 hours!

Then it was Iraq's turn. She had been awake since 3-something in her excitement to go to her new school. We had the opportunity this year to have her go to a new (very outdoorsey and hands-on) trial program which happens to be starting out at the same school The Skink goes to! No brainer, there! It's an environmentally-based program that includes a lot of gardening and visits to the surrounding forest.

A couple of weeks ago, all Iraq's clothes were removed from her room when stuffing them all in one drawer became a strange compulsion that simply wouldn't go away... resulting in wrinkles and even small tears when some of them spilled over into the track that holds the drawer in place and got repeatedly "run over" by the edge of the drawer. (If you are a regular follower of my blog, you may remember a post not too long ago where I mentioned we thought we had finally seen the end of this compulsion. I was sadly mistaken.) At any rate, all the clothes have ended up in the master bedroom which is a pain in itself... but better than just standing by and watching the wrinkling and destruction of all those innocent clothes.

So anyway, I had laid out Iraq's 1'st-day-of-school outfit the night before. By the time we had seen The Skink off on her bus, Iraq was already dressed and ready to go... NOW! Of course "NOW" happened to be about 20 minutes before the bus was scheduled to arrive. Eating was out of the question, which worried Mom to no end. Just before running out the front door, Iraq finally agreed to eat... a green pepper. Yes - it happened to be a green pepper we grew in our own garden. Iraq has taken to picking them, rinsing them off and eating them like apples.

So off we went to the bus stop, green pepper in-hand!

Green peppers... The breakfast of Champions!
And of course because Iraq's hair is naturally straight, she made me set it up in curlers the night before so she could go to school with bouncy curls!

And then Iraq noticed the camera, and did what Iraq does best...

Until the bus came :o)

Last but not least, it was Broadway's turn. "Really, mom? You're gonna take my PICTURE?"
(Oh, YES, I am!)

Iraq was the first to get home in the afternoon. Her new school received a glowing report and she said that her class is comprised of mostly girls. Then she exclaimed excitedly, "And they all PLAYED with ME at recess."
*sigh*  That part broke my heart a bit. I have to wonder how long it will be before that changes. Even at summer camp it was not long before the other children distanced themselves from Iraq. Somewhere between her insistence on doing things a VERY CERTAIN WAY, her "unique" little compulsions, a few random outbursts and the fact that occasionally she will shut down completely - refusing to talk, look at people or be touched - other children eventually stop playing with her.
I continuously talk with her about social interaction... sharing, allowing others to decide how the pretend play progresses some times, why children become upset when she has outbursts or shuts down... but I don't think it's something she has full control over yet.

At home, Iraq's compulsions over-ride any fears she may have of punishment. Just like with the clothes - doesn't matter if we make her re-fold them all again, throw away a favorite shirt that got a hole in it or threaten to take them all away... something in her just seems to *make* her repeat the behavior over and over and over and over and...

The Skink was next to get home. I was sure she would be exhausted from her very long day, but NO! She bounded off the bus bright eyed and bushy tailed and ready to play. The teacher sent a note saying that The Skink had a very good 1st day of school - Yayy!!

Broadway missed his afternoon bus and I had to go pick him up. School was "fine" and he was excited to have just found out he'll be taking Robotics this year due to a computer glitch. OK - that just sounds like a really cool class! We were hoping he would be taking drivers-ed, but apparently he's saving that until spring.

Anywhooo - otherwise, we are all doing quite well. I'm still figuring out what to do with my new-found freedom while all 3 of my little angels are off at school for the whole day. Yesterday I kicked off the school year by un-gardening... meaning I pulled up the jumbled pile of tomato plants by the side of the house that were done for the year. Today, perhaps I will focus on the potted tomatoes.  As a side-note, we started some pumpkins a few weeks ago and they are growing well in the spot we had the cantaloupes earlier in the summer. They may not be ready by Halloween, but we'll see. At very least, we should have pumpkins by Thanksgiving... mmmmmmm... pie!

The gardening project has been a good thing for Iraq, although by the end of summer rearranging the potted plants (into neat, straight lines) had become more interesting than watering them. Whatever. At least the experience provided her with breakfast for the first day of school!

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