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Elementary

I don’t know if first days of school are harder for the kids themselves or their parents. When River returned to “in person” school after a year and a half of homeschooling during the pandemic, I felt as though I was doing a Kindergarten goodbye all over again. It was a complicated blend of emotions from being super happy to get her back into the regular swing of things and into the classroom with kids her age, to wanting to keep her at home with me forever.

Nonetheless, my husband and I made the unanimous decision to send her back to the classroom because we thought it was in her best interests based on her particular learning style and personal desires. She really thrives being around other children her age, and she has an innate love for hands-on learning. While I enjoyed playing teacher for the year, I have a new found respect for teachers and all that they do to keep our kids engaged, focused, motivated and on track. It was difficult for me to replicate what happens every day in a classroom at home without distractions such as TV or Roblox.

Now the Kindergarten feels were real once again because this is the year our little in the middle, Story, started Kindergarten. She is our social butterfly, so somehow I knew Story would thrive in school too. I was excited for her to make friends and follow along in her big sister’s footsteps, but sad to have to give up time with her at the same time. She was really ready though, and I was a seasoned pro the second time around, so that definitely made things a little easier this go around.

For their back to school pictures, the girls picked out matching outfits in different colors from our favorite store, Zara. They truly have the most adorable clothes for kids of all ages, and we have been dressing them up in head to toe Zara from infancy on. River chose her Peach themed Parkland backpack from Chapters because she can’t get enough fuzzy peaches. Story’s Auntie ordered her backpack online from Coco Village and got her a matching lunch kit and pencil case too. I sewed little sailor bows to match their outfits, which was a fun little summer sewing project.

We snapped some cute pictures of the girls outside of their school the day before school started. The girls had fun balancing fruit on their heads while smiling. Not as easy as you’d think, but somehow we managed to keep the fruit from getting bruised for the most part, and it doubled as a healthy snack afterwards.

I also made little crayon and pencil hats out of card stock, which made for some really sweet pictures. They were simple to make and I cut them out by hand using a template. I added glitter paper for a little pizazz.

Well, it sure felt like an empty household with both the girls away at school that year, but it was nice to have some one on one time with their baby brother, Oxford. I was able to give him my undivided attention, and I enjoyed every morsel of time with him knowing that it won’t be long until he himself starts school. I can’t get over how the girls change year after year, and it certainly is fun looking back on these first day of school pictures.

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