School

You only think my life is more interesting. It's really just a lot of dishes (no dishwasher), laundry (no dryer) and walking to pick up kids from school (no car!).



Ah. But you're right. Church is a ton more interesting. I can't say that I get bored at church. I may not understand much of what is going on, but everyone entertains me immensely, the singing is beautiful and I'm charmed by the kids and the kisses (one on each cheek, you know).

We had full on temper tantrum meltdown with Dylan the first day of school when he didn't get to go to school. After all he had his backpack and can say, "Ou est les toilette?" as well as the other two having turned up his nose at diapers around the time of his second birthday. It's always so hard to be the youngest and get left behind. With just me and Dylan in the house, I haven't had this much time to myself in about six years without giving up sleep to get it. School is quite the concept, eh?

Isaac astounded us. (We'll see how it goes in subsequent days), but the boy that would balk at Joy school, sat on the bench and cried LAST Sunday because I wouldn't stay with him in nursery. Yes that Isaac. He got up this morning and announced, "I'm SO excited for school." Got dressed, ate breakfast, went to his little desk and told Eric he needed to do his school work (workbook) and then held it together at the school. When I went to say goodbye, he started get a little clingy, but then when I tried to hug and reassure me, he pushed me in the chest and gave me a mean look like, "HEY you go before you make me cry. I'm staying." So I left and he did great. When I went back a little later to check on him, he chased me out with a crab.

Benjamin's teacher is intense. She met parents and kids at her door smiling and in control. She greeted the kids and then sent them into the classroom barring the way to any soft-hearted parents who may have wanted to soothe a crying child. She's very no nonsense. Benjamin will behave. We just hope that he doesn't always have that far off look in his eyes like he's really thinking of Stone Mountain instead of anything around him. We get that look a lot in Primary here. He gets very quiet. He hardly responds to anyone or anything. But he sits and he's good. Recently we're beginning to suspect that Benjamin isn't really all that far away, he's just embarrassed by us--that we keep trying to speak English to him when he knows that everyone else is speaking French. I was chided for saying a prayer in English at church.

To date, every day of school gets, "THUMBS UP!" from Benjamin. Does the bus ride to and from school and the playground make up for all that French? It must.