Carpool Lane

I had no trouble getting up today at 6:30, luckily, neither did the kiddos. Xavier was already awake when I entered his room; hopping out of bed and into the girls' room to wake them up for school.  They joined me in the kitchen for cereal and juice and seemed happy about beginning something new and different.  No more Phineas and Ferb, Hannah Montana, or The Suite Life on Deck in the mornings.  They all dressed (since they showered last night), styling their hair perfectly for the first day. Their lunches were packed and refrigerated from last night;  turkey sandwich (Xavier having two), a bag of chips, a Zinger, banana, and a Caprisun juice pouch.  In addition to last night's preparations, we excitedly wrote their names on school supplies and filled their backpacks. Their lunch packs are cute: Angela's is hot pink and resembles a purse.  Lizet has a princess bag, and Xavier's is lime green.  This morning, Xavier placed his arm through the hot pink bag, and waved while saying in a girly voice, "Hi."   Everything was ready to grab and go!  Unbeknownst to me, Dave decided to go in a little late so he could participate in their first day of school, as well.  That was a nice surprise!  We all left around 7:30 to take Xavier and Angela to school.  On Mondays, they have an assembly in the auditorium, first thing.  Dave and Lizet stayed in the car while I walked Xavier and Angela through the building to the appropriate location.  We were met by the principal and counselor who escorted them to a seat. Since they were in good hands, I joined Lizet and Dave.  We went back home for a little while until time to take Lizet to school.  After thirty minutes of cartoons and some time alone with Fletcher, we were back in the car.  Dave and I walked Lizet to her classroom to meet her teacher, Mrs. England. Lizet was comfortable being left with other students while waiting for the bell.  As we were leaving, I kept looking back over my shoulder - it seemed I was the one who needed reassurance.  Dave dropped me off at the house and I got busy organizing the girls' closet, made a stop at Goodwill, treated myself to some Mexican food, bought several items of clothes for the kids and headed home.  I baked some chocolate chip cookies until time to pick up the kids. While waiting, I received a phone call from Bartlesville schools.  It was from the counselor at Madison to inform me that the kids were having a wonderful day. What a relief! I was so glad to hear there were no tears or hiding out in the bathroom.  Fortunately, they had an ELL teacher with them, escorting them from class to class.  I sat in the carpool lane outside Madison for a few minutes until I saw them with their ELL teacher come out the front door at 2:35.  As soon as they saw me, they smiled!  They were so happy to get in the car to tell me all about their day.  Xavier loved his day, while Angela expressed she didn't want to go back, even though once we were home, she couldn't wait to show me her things from school.  They had a snack of cookies and chocolate milk, then it was time to pick up Lizet, who ran out smiling and waving at me.  She had a wonderful day!!  It turns out I was the only one with homework.  Questionnaires for parent and child.  I double-checked by calling the homework hotline, only to find some teacher's hotline had recordings from March of last year.  It is official, I guess... no homework.  Angela is napping on the couch, Xavier and Lizet are playing outside, a little piano has been played, and now we're waiting on our soup to finish simmering.  Dave surprised the kids by purchasing the Peru package on our cable, so tonight... Al Fondo hay Sitio. Even I am happy about that!