Last day of school

Today has been a complete whirlwind. The boys were antsy, nervous and excited this morning from the moment each got out of bed. "I'm going to be a FIRST grader today!" "No more school for THREE WHOLE MONTHS!" I got them both off to school and somehow managed to pry a very, very troubled Arden off of me with reassurances that today would be a good day (poor sweetie). Then I scurried through a huge list of errands, since this was my last two hour child free week day time for the next three months. I mailed off the apron, bought some daikon radish and rice sprinkles at the local asian market, bought some things at the drug store, and dropped off books at the library.

Then I swung back around to pick up Arden, who was literally bouncing up and down yelling, "today was the best day ever!" over and over again. Once he gave his teacher a full body hug (the kind that resembles a monkey clinging on to it's mama with hands and feet) and he hugged all his classmates, we walked hand in hand to the car and drove home. Now, he's been despondent at the thought of missing all of his friends during the Summer, actually crying himself to sleep several nights. Dan came up with the best idea: make up some cards with Arden's name, address and phone number and hand them out to everyone on the last day of school. I printed out quarter sheets of paper that read: "I'm going to miss you this Summer! Arden X, address, phone number". I figured a small sheet of paper might get lost in the shuffle of the last school day, so we rolled up each paper and tied them with colorful yarn. He really is going to miss every single child in his class, and several asked for his phone number so the idea was a really good one.

Off we went to have lunch together, the last we'll have on a school day since next year he goes for a full day along with Ryan. Then back to school for a talent show put on by the upper grades, complete with singing, dancing, Tae Kwon Do, and a gymnastics routine set to "White and Nerdy" by Weird Al Yankovic. The Principal thanked everyone for a wonderful year, the bell rang, and suddenly I had a First grader and a Third grader. Sniff!

Both are flying on adrenaline at the moment, so the rest of the day will be interesting. Tonight we're making whole wheat waffles with crushed berries, yogurt and whipped cream for toppings as a special treat, and hopefully soon after that they will crash and fall asleep. Then I have work to do.

Tomorrow is the first day of Summer. Am I prepared in any way? Nope. Ought to be interesting.