Wednesday, September 7, 2011

and a second first day of school...

So today was the start of new school year for Max. I can't even quite explain how heartbreaking it was sending him off on that bus this morning. I mean, he's my baby! And yes, he's 8-years-old and starting 4th grade so it's not like this is the first time sending him off. But somehow, having him the only one heading off to public school this year just made it hurt all the more. And it didn't help that he really didn't want to go. At all. See for yourself:



These were the absolute best I could do. Thing is, he doesn't want to be homeschooled, so feeling guilty about that is useless. He's not one of those kiddos who absolutely loves school...but he doesn't hate it nearly as much as he sometimes pretends to. I really think the low spirits this morning had more to do with the end of summer than with an absolute dreading of school. There was no fighting, no tantrums, nothing like I became accustomed to with Gray. It was just plain old sadness.

The good news though--he came home happy and even admitted that it wasn't as bad as he thought it was going to be. (Though he wasn't thrilled to get both math and reading homework on the first night. :P )

And it was not only Gray's first day of school, but it was his first day of homeschooling ever. Obvious from these first-day-of-school photos, he was not nearly as upset as his little brother:



To be perfectly honest, as happy and excited as I was to be starting this journey with him, I was also more than a bit apprehensive. Gray can be...well, how shall I put this...obstinate...and argumentative...and horrendously pessimistic. But I needn't have worried, as we had absolutely the best day imaginable! He was upbeat and hard-working and fun to be around. (Having one's beagle and one's blanket surely doesn't hurt.)


I'm not silly enough to think every day will go this well, but it was wonderful to get off on the right foot!

*****
And in other news...Gray got his stitches removed today. One would think this would be good news, but I'm sorry to say Gray came out of there feeling worse about his leg than he has in days. :( His doc told him that it was nowhere near healed yet and that he was going to have to remain on alert taking great care not to have anything hit that spot or it would burst right open as if it had never been stitched to start with. He glued it and put on some steri-strips, hoping that will get him another four or five days worth of healing in. I understand that he wanted to make sure that Gray was careful, but oh my. The poor kid is practically back to being as upset about it as he was when he first got home from the hospital.


*****
Also managed to turn this lovely goodness from our garden (with the addition of an onion, some cilantro, and limes)


...into two pints of canned salsa plus a nice size bowl to eat fresh.


So all in all, a busy productive day. And overall, a pretty good one.

5 comments:

Kailana said...

I liked school, but that didn't mean I was always thrilled to go back there...

Amanda said...

My two oldest couldn't wait to go back to school, but Laurence has never liked it. I feel bad because it's pretty much my own fault. There was one year between when Ambrose started and when Laurence started, and Laurence wanted school that year. He was only 3, though, so I told him we could have school at home instead. For two hours every morning, I "taught" him things like counting and getting better at reading and logic just by playing games and having him do craft projects. Now, he's come to think of that as the ideal for school, and he thinks if he was still having school at home, it would be all fun and games with mom. Sigh.

DesLily said...

well it is good to hear that your school year got off to a good start.. I will cross my fingers that it stays that way!

those gorgeous tomatoes are from your garden? and you didn't make me a tomato and miracle whip sammie?!!!...... that's outrageous!!!!!!! ohhhh :o( to just have a home grown tomato for a sammie *sniffle*

Jean said...

Yay for a smooth start to the new homeschooling adventure. I hope the rough spots are few and far between. And tell Mr. Gray that breaking open the incision as it's healing will not result in a cooler scar than the one he's going to have already. Yeah, right. You just tell him that and hope he believes it.

My Gallery of Worlds said...

I have one of those sad faced guys too...but he's surviving...thank goodness...lol
Ummmm want some of that salsa ;)
So glad your years off to a good start :D