I decided not to backdate this to June, but that’s when the last day was. I’ll have a post literally next week with the 2019 first day of school pictures.

And here’s 2018 Last Day of School post

And here’s the 2018 First Day of School post

This year, Evan is in 4th grade, Caroline is in 3rd grade, and Lincoln is going to full-day child care preschool. That means from 9 am until 4 pm every weekday I have only ONE KID to take care of. So far it’s going great, both here at home and at school. Evan and Caroline both love their teachers. Evan gets to take band this year and he’s chosen the trombone, so he’ll also get a pretty good workout carrying it back and forth on the bus twice a week. Caroline is pretty jealous but she’ll get to pick an instrument next year. Lincoln has gotten on and off the bus cheerfully every day, even if he is still mad he’s in a “downstairs” classroom instead of his old class upstairs. I’m not even sure his best friend goes to his daycare anymore, but I’m sure he’ll make a new best friend quickly.

Besides these big kids, Finnegan and I are SO excited to hang out together. He’s so NICE when he has my undivided attention. His language has exploded, he likes riding in the car and he has chosen to take naps almost every afternoon, so I’m getting our disaster house back under control and preparing for some big renovation work this fall. It’s a good time of year for all of us.

The 2017-2018 school year honestly felt like ten thousand years for all of us. When the kids started E was deployed, Finnegan had just turned one, and things were so crazy I barely remember the fall. The last 2 months have felt like an entirely new decade. I’m hoping summer doesn’t fly by too fast, we could all use a little laziness.

All three kids big kids ended the school year on high notes. Caroline won an award for best second grader (based both on behavior and grades), Evan won an award for musical achievement, and Lincoln got accepted to a full day pre-k program for next year, where he’ll continue to get speech services. They all adjusted to school well and are a tiny bit sad it’s over now, because they’ll miss their friends and fun stuff like music and recess during the summer. I will miss school breakfast and lunch, as well as the 2 hours of quiet every afternoon while Finn napped. But we have a ton of stuff on our calendar for the summer, plus plenty of lazy days to spend at the lake, so we are ready. Bring on the summer!

Previously: first day 2014, first day 2015, first day 2016

Three of my four children started school this week. The big kids were thrilled, as usual, because they love school. Caroline has the same teacher she had for kindergarten, who Evan also had for both kindergarten and second grade, so she’s pretty familiar with us Davises. Evan has a teacher we haven’t met before but both kids know her a little – one of the advantages of a small school – and she seems super nice. I am not worried about the big kids in the least.

Lincoln is going to preschool 5 days a week in the afternoons. He qualifies for early preschool because of his speech delay – he aged out of Birth to Three at-home sessions. That means he has an IEP and gets to meet with the school speech therapist every week, while also getting a head start on school. I mean, he’s not learning to read or anything, but he’s started to show interest in art and letters and counting, so I’m happy he has somewhere to focus on that.

Unfortunately, Lincoln does not like leaving me. It’s pretty much my own fault. He is not a shy kid. He is rarely scared. More often than not I have to keep him from killing himself because he has no sense of danger. He runs away in public and I have to chase him down. But he does all that stuff because he trusts me and knows I’m not far away. I almost never leave him anywhere, especially not with new adults he’s only met once or twice. And right now I’m his only parent, so he’s especially worried when I’m out of sight. The first two days of bus pick-up have been rough. When he comes home again he’s fine, so at least he isn’t spending 2.5 hours sobbing in a corner. I just need the pick-up part to get better next week.

Today I said good bye to my kindergartener and my pre-because and welcomed home a first grader and a kindergartener. That means both big kids will be in full day programs at the same school next year. ONE bus in the morning, ONE bus in the afternoon, SEVEN hours of freedom in between. (Well, as free as you can be with a 1-year-old.)

The kids have grown so much this year, both physically and mentally. Caroline’s teachers report she is academically strong and predict she will thrive in kinder. They also said she has great maturity with peer pressure and when some of the girls in class get out of hand she’s great at saying “No, I shouldn’t do this” and removing herself from the situation. Since she’s always trying to keep up with Evan we’re working on her sight words and I suspect she’ll go into the fall already reading. She loves expressing “her style” with her glasses and hair and leggings but has no complaints about the school uniform (I LOVE school uniforms).

Evan looks like a completely different kid than in September. He’s so big and so capable and so smart. He reads at grade level, has mastered all the kinder math skills and got a glowing report on how very much he has progressed in both his listening and behavior since the winter. Even when he was having trouble listening to grown-ups, he remembered to be kind and help others. His school best friend is the smallest kid in the class, who he adopted as his personal responsibility to make sure no one was mean to him or picked on him. The last time the principal called, it was to tell me Evan stood up for a kid in the lunch line and a bigger kid pushed him. Evan told a teacher, but didn’t push back. Best phone call from the principal ever.

I am so excited to hang out with all the kids and do fun stuff and use all our memberships this summer. I’m letting them eat carrots, hummus and Oreos for dinner tonight while we start their very important Lord of the Rings education, so things are already in vacation mode.

First day of school post here for reference. (Sob sob sob so little now they’re so big sob etc etc.)

The peace sign apparently means “no excuses” at Evan’s school, so you do it when you need to prove you’re listening and ready to learn.