Last week, B started first grade at his new school.  Yesterday, Liam had his first day of school for the year, too.  Liam is back at the same preschool (Kindergarten) this year, the same school that B also attended for 3 years.

Last week was a nice transition into the hectic new school year (more hectic than ever for us, because we’ve never had to take the kids to two different schools each morning).  Last week, B was in school, but Liam was home with me.  So, we were able to adjust to B’s new school’s schedule, get in the habit of bringing gym clothes on Monday, packing a snack for him every day and remembering his reading homework.  But, while we did that, Liam and I also got in one last week of trips to the playground and quiet mornings building train tracks.  It was really nice.  (I love having my boys at home.  One part of me really wishes they were home with me all the time.  I fantasize about home-schooling them, letting them wake up whenever they like, taking our lunch break when it’s relatively convenient, and staying in on rainy days.  But I know that my reasons for doing that would be mostly selfish.  I’d love having them with me every day, but I do really think that this is best for them.  I also realize that my fantasy about what home-schooling would be like is exactly just a fantasy and leaves out all of the actual SCHOOLING and such.)  This week, we’re off to the races, with two drop-offs and two pick-ups in different places and at different times each day.

But yesterday was Liam’s first day.  He was so excited and so proud.  He was really ready to go to school (and really, really ready to get his Scultüte that he’d been looking forward to since last week).  He was happy to pose for “1st day” pictures (and though he was as bouncy as B was last week, I kept my good spirits the whole time).  I was a little concerned, though, because though he was excited and enthusiastic, I wasn’t entirely sure that it had truly occurred to him that one thing would be really different about this year — this year, B wouldn’t be there with him.

The boys were in different classes at the preschool last year, but they still crossed paths a lot.  They often ran into each other at breakfast, or in the garden at recess time, and very occasionally even got to visit each other in their respective classes.  Now, it would just be Liam at his school, and I wasn’t sure he’d thought of that.

Regardless, he was excited, and it was time to head off to his first day.  When we got there, I was a little surprised to find that he has a new teacher this year.  This makes 3 teachers for Liam since he started last September, which is a lot.  His first teacher last year was FANTASTIC, but she left last spring for another job closer to her home.  For reasons I will probably never know (part of the downside to the kids being in an entirely German-speaking school is that I’m left completely out of the rumor mill), both of his teachers from last spring seem to no longer be with the school.  So, for Liam, it’s year 2 of preschool, with no Benjamin, and a new teacher.

He was undaunted.  He was very enthusiastic to put away his things in his same spot as last year, change his shoes, and get into class.  He was a little confused when he greeted his new teacher, but he wasn’t bothered by it — he quickly set about exploring his old classroom and discovering a few new car and truck toys that weren’t there last spring.  He was a happy guy.

I watched him for a bit, and he came back out briefly to show me a new construction truck that he found.  But he wasn’t worried about me or what I was up to, so I left pretty quickly.  According to both him and his teacher, he had a “great” first day.  He seems just as happy as can be, and I’m very glad to find out that I’m missing him much more than he’s missing me.