Firsts

I read somewhere that to be a mother is to have your heart walking outside your body.  Can’t think of a better way to describe how I feel as I watch the kids navigate life.  I had to gulp down a lot of emotion as they started international school this week.  We are homeschooling in the morning and they are joining the other students for the afternoon where they are learning Chinese and enjoying “specials” like art, music and PE.

Roo, our social butterfly, was ready to jump right in and Soccer Dude had friends from when we lived here before so he was looking forward to meeting up with them daily.  Little Monkey…well she is our shy one and did not want to go.  It was a bumpy start, but by day two she came home all smiles and telling me about her new friends and proudly showing me the paint on her sleeve from art classes.  Phew!

Their school is about a 30 minute bus ride from where we are living on the university campus where hubby is teaching.  I say “about” because the first day we attempted to take the kids to school it took us an hour.  Two buses flew by our stop.  I was not a happy camper waiting on the curb with four kids all who were anxious to get to their new school.  Day two it took 15 minutes to get there making them very early.  Welcome back to the predictability of public transportation!  All part of the adventure.

So where is Little Man in the midst of all this?  The first day we all went to help the kids get settled.  He was running down the hall of the school yelling, “help me!  Where is my class?!”  Very safe to say that he is in the extroverted camp and I need to treasure every afternoon of playing trains and reading books I get this year.  He will be ready for pre-school when he turns four!

Hubby also had his first day of class.  I think he may have been as nervous as his dark eyed daughter!   He came home with stories of not having enough time to finish his lecture based on American literature.  Doesn’t that just sound like a professor?  He is teaching 5 class periods with about 40 students in each class.  We are busily setting up a lending library in our apartment and planning open houses and english corners.  Excited to see how the semester unfolds.

Over all a good week of many firsts….oh wait, it is only Wednesday.  Kinda feel like I have lived a whole week the past three days.  Sending the big kids to afternoon school and l am going to lay down and take a nap with Little Man.