We made it! Today is the first day of school. I took this picture of all three of them as LG was waiting for the bus, but I actually drove the girls to school. Check out Princess P with the pout. Oh yes, she is expressing her displeasure with me. I did not have time to get another picture with her in a decent mood, since she did not snap out of it until we were driving. So this is her picture for posterity, her first day of school. I found out in the car she was mad because she does not like her book-bag. Mean mommy is not buying another one right now so she is just going to have to deal.
I enrolled her in Kindergarten, which she is very excited about. We went to open house yesterday and she did not want to leave! Her teacher is a treasure. Little Miss Lady is in the second grade. They are both one year behind their age group, and I can live with that. Although they have some catching up to do, I feel strongly they can succeed at these levels. So I can only hope I made the right decision. Both are enrolled in ESOL, and happily there are some other adopted kids (Nicaragua) in the class as well.
Unfortunately Georgia schools rate consistently low scholastically at the national level. That does not mean there aren't any good schools here, only that there are plenty that have churned out poor results. I am fortunate that I live in one of the best school districts in the state and both of my boys have received very good public educations. The down side is that it is not very diverse, and I have been especially concerned about that with the girls entering public school. The book, I'm Chocolate, You're Vanilla addresses these issues honestly and without judgement. Even though it was published over 10 years ago, I found her views to be fresh and common-sense. After I read this I felt much better about enrolling them. This morning I peeked into my older girl's classroom (approximately 25 kids) and noticed her classroom is more diverse than I anticipated. Her teacher is AA as well which was a nice surprise. I know these issues have been heavily debated on other forums, but when you live in an area where it's not so unusual to come across a rebel flag flying in some one's yard, one tends to be a wee bit hyperviligent. You see, so far, my girls don't know racism. They have not encountered it. They know our family looks different and they could care less. I overheard one kid asking my older daughter about it at daycare, and my daughter just looked at her like "And??? What's your point?" She did not understand the fuss.
But, I digress. They were both so excited yesterday and this morning. They got up early with no complaint, and I'll enjoy that while I can! Spending time at the open house yesterday really helped alleve some fears. Not sure how they will feel when they get home today, but I'm hoping for the best! And oh yeah, I felt those MOM tears well up after I dropped them off and was walking out to my car. You know those tears. My baby is launched into the real world!
LG, meanwhile is in the 11th grade here, which ranked this year as #744 in Newsweek's nationwide poll of best public high schools in the USA! He is hoping to run Cross Country this fall, which will be exciting (and good for him) so I'm hopeful that works out.
I'll keep ya'll posted...I'm now off to tackle some much needed housework!
