Big Day, Big Changes

Knowing my kids, it was actually a bit of a Freaky Friday situation (albeit it’s Thursday today). My oldest daughter, Charlotte, has always hated school. She never looked forward to the first day (I always did as a kid) and she would often throw tantrums (even at age nine) and had a seriously bad tardiness/truancy record as a result of her School Refusal (which actually is a legitimate condition…check it out on Wikipedia). My younger daughter, Madeleine, is such a happy-go-lucky girl (thank god, because two intense daughters would have killed me) and was always super-excited to go off to school.

Today, though, was a different story. Charlotte jumped out of bed the second her alarm went off (a very early 6:45) and practically jumped into her clothes. She got her own breakfast and was in her coat (yes, it was 4C here this morning) well before she needed to leave to catch the school bus. She even told me she wanted to walk to the bus stop on her own, despite our plan to have me accompany her on the first day.

And Maddy? She wouldn’t even smile for the obligatory first-day-of-school photo and was crying while I pushed her up the steps and into school.

Why the change? As recently as yesterday, Charlotte was telling me how nervous she was for school to start while Maddy was waving at her school saying “hello school that I’m coming to again tomorrow!” whenever we drove past it.

Well, I have a few theories. First of all, Charlotte is off to a new school this year. And that’s not to say there was anything wrong with her old school; far from it. It’s a fantastic neighbourhood school that has a wonderful community feeling. But it’s definitely a small, early-years environment — which is great for the little ones who need a lot of nurturing — not so hot for the kids who desperately want to get on with growing up, which pretty much describes my nearly 10 year-old girl. So this year, with the school bus and the big, big middle school (grades 5-9) and the locker and the gym uniform and the fact that she doesn’t need to have “indoor shoes”…well, this wannabe-teen is in heaven.

But I was surprised by Maddy. Even before we left (as you can see above) she was sad and worried (which is so unlike her). She was very concerned that she would end up with the same teacher as last year – which, of course, she did. And not that her teacher isn’t lovely and nice, but, you see, she wanted the teacher who’s just returning from mat leave, and who has a lovely cute little baby who used to come and visit occasionally last year. I’m not sure she quite realizes that he won’t be coming to school with his mom every day! So when we found out who her teacher was, she started to cry and wanted to be picked up and comforted.

I guess it just goes to show you that — no matter how well you think you know them — your kids can still surprise you. I’m hoping that when I meet her after school this afternoon, Maddy will be her old, happy self again, eager to show me her new agenda and to talk about the new kids in her class. I’m also equally hoping Charlotte will like her new teacher (she’s just coming off two consecutive years with the same FANTASTIC — as in best ever — teacher), will have some friends in her class, and will be able to ride this wave of enthusiasm for a while yet.

Either way, I’m going to have a bit of fun with my kids this afternoon. Yesterday Charlotte and her BFF made these totally awesome homework binders. 

They came up with the idea all on their own and made a holy mess cutting up all the pictures for the collages, not to mention complaining that we don’t have any recent pictures to use. (For the record, we do have loads of pictures, but they’re all on the computer since my Costco photocentre membership expired and I haven’t made prints in over a year!) My idea is to make some more collages today, but using updated images from the computer, while also eliminating the mess (god, I hate picking up all those little shards of paper after the kids have been let loose with scissors). I’m going to use PowerPoint to put it all together…they can “cut” out shapes, “paste” pictures wherever they want and even add creative text, all without touching scissors or a drop of glue.

If you know me well at all, you will know I am a very loyal Mac user, but I have to tip the hat to Microsoft – they created a winner in MS Office (especially the 2010 version), and I am certainly a fan of the Office programs, especially PowerPoint. My kids love, love, love to use this program, and I’m often fighting them for dibs on the laptop…if this sounds anything like you, I recommend you check out this totally awesome contest we’re running.

So: with a fun project to entertain us after school, a healthy snack and an early bedtime, I’m hoping tomorrow will be a good second day at school for both my girls!