Upside-down?

You could say that I'm adjusting well to having Lucy in school. So far, in the first 12 days, she has not yet been late and I've been there to greet her as soon as her teacher leads the kids out the door. She has been clothed, fed, and her hair has been brushed each morning (except for maybe one). She tells me about new friends and new activities, and recites word-for-word the affirmation she receives from her teacher. (Can you tell what her love language is?) She has made me proud, and since the first day we've had no tears.

But in other ways I definitely feel like the two hours and fourty-five minutes she is gone from us has indeed turned my world upside-down.

For one thing, I bought a watch. And I'm wearing it. After living in Africa, time had much less significance for me, and I could usually find a clock (or cell phone) when I really needed to know the exact hour. After Lucy was born and I was tracking feedings and naps, I worn a watch sporadically, but gave it up again after Joey was born. Now I have a very tight window for dropping Lucy off in the morning (the doors open at 9:05 and close at 9:10!), and I certainly don't want her to be the last one waiting around with her tummy growling for lunch. I've seen a few of those lonely kids, scanning the road and the parking lot for their parents, though I'm sure eventually it'll be mine...

Secondly, I seem to have misplaced my brain among all the papers Lucy has brought home. Granted, I could use the excuse that when the pile was an inch thick, we did have two extra families staying in our home. I guess I was too busy having fun and trying to keep the havoc caused by six adults and five children to a minimum, but it completely slipped by me that school pictures were last Thursday. What was she even wearing?? Was that the day I forgot to brush her hair?! I guess I'll find out eventually. And what?! The paper I got last night and didn't look at until noon today tells me I was supposed to provide the snack for the whole class this morning?! Good thing the teacher keeps an extra large stash of goldfish for just such an occasion. Yes, one particuar day was pretty bad for me, but I think I learned my lesson early on. And I got flowers and chocolate from my hubby that night for sobbing on the phone to him about what a horrible parent I am.

Thirdly, I think Joey has just given up on trying to survive without his sister and declares naptime at 9:30 or 10:00 almost every morning. A few times I've kept him out of the house or come up with something creative to do (like garage sale-ing), but generally he screams "NAAAAAP!!!" until I let him lay down in his crib. This has made for a few interesting afternoons, to say the least.

And lastly, I'm struggling with Lucy's independence. On the second day of school, she told me that I didn't need to go inside with her. I did anyway. She walked right past her classroom. On the third day, she tried again, and this time I quizzed her on where her classroom was, then watched her bouncing ponytail through the window to make sure she got there. Every day since, I stand out on the sidewalk, give her a kiss (thank God she's still letting me do that!), and watch her until she is inside the doors.

This morning she turned and blew me a kiss just before she walked in.

My aching heart melted right there on the sidewalk.

Somehow I think we're going to make it.

I hear Joey waking up from his nap. According to my watch, it's just in time to go pick up Lucy from school.