Maren's first day of Kindergarten

Big day for us today--it was Maren's first day of kindergarten!

Just what you want to do right after you've swept up the spent sparklers from the Fourth of July: head back to school. Blech.

Stinkin' year-round school. For the past two years of preschool we've been on a track schedule that allowed us to return to school at the end of July, so it actually felt like there was a summer vacation.

For the 2010-11 school year, we got booted off our previous track and put in one that gets out of school at Memorial Day, so the summer break is in June. Except, since we were still on our old track in June, we didn't get out then--we went until June 17. That means our 'summer break' has lasted all of 18 days. Whee.

Truthfully, Maren doesn't care one whit about not having a summer break. She only goes half-day anyway, so she still has the mornings to play and go to swimming lessons and the park. And for her, school is still fun--she loves to learn and do fun things and play with her friends, so she's happy to go. I'm the one grumbling about it.

One good thing about the track change is that many of our friends have kids on the same schedule, so they're all out of school at the same time. That means lots of play dates and outings are possible during those three weeks. Our next break is the three weeks following Labor Day, and then again from Thanksgiving all the way through Christmas until the first of January. That one's gonna hurt.

She got to pick out a new backpack for the big occasion and went immediately for the metallic pink Hello Kitty model. A girl after my own heart.

I didn't shed a single tear when I dropped her off. Since she's spent two years in preschool at the same school and her kindie class is only 10 minutes longer than preschool, it doesn't seem like such a big deal. Next year when she starts first grade and is in school all day long--that's when I'll cry. For now, we're happy to have a kindergartener! I know she's going to have a great year.

(And yes, she's at that age where she's categorically unable to take a normal picture.)