It has begun

Summer has officially ended for me today. I woke at 5 this morning to walk Maple, get ready and go to school. Luckily they try to ease you back into working with kids and have a half day with an open house in the afternoon to meet the kids and for the kids to meet you and the classroom. It was a lot of fun meeting the kids, trying to commit their names/faces to memory and smile politely at the parents while thinking in the back of my mind that there is no way that I'll be remembering their names or to which kid they belong to for at least a month. The one kid that I couldn't get to warm up to me is nicknamed "Bear" and apparently doesn't recognize his given name. I wasn't overly concerned and since he wandered in with his mom towards the end, I was exhausted from coaxing kids into talking to me and letting me take their pictures. 

So my teacher told me that she would pay for any developing that I wanted/needed done for any pictures relating to the classroom. I'm excited. I'm taking pictures of the children just smiling for now. I should have set it up a little nicer like having them sit outside or something. Maybe I'll do it later in the semester. They were pretty tense and I kind of like the forced smiles and the wide eyes as they try to take in what's happening around them and paying attention to me. 

Ben and Theo also had their first days today! Theo started in the pre-school at the daycare and Ben started in the baby room. They both did well for their first day. Theo is adjusting to being in a different room and seems to be a little sensitive and challenging, and Ben crashed as soon as he was given the option of laying down when he got home. I was asked to work in the pre-school this week after school got out for me until 5:30 and it was nice to be able to stop in and say hi to Ben and then play with "my kiddos" in the pre-school in the afternoon. Ben warmed my heart by crawling right over to me with a big smile as soon as he saw me. Theo also gave me a big smile but quickly resumed his biking when he learned that I was going to be sticking around. I may also have lost my specialness since I'm living with them and see Theo every evening. 

And now I raise my glass of...water...and pray for a smooth semester. Cheers!