Dillen loves school. She loves her teacher, she loves her new friends and she loves the activities she gets to do throughout the day. One ritual we always do at bedtime is tell each other what our favorite part of the day was. The girls enjoy this so much they never let me forget to ask them. Dillen's answer every day since Tuesday has been "school" with a giggle. I have learned I now need to then ask her, what part of school was her favorite. Tonight's answer was "making the monkey." It turns out all of the kids are making cut out monkeys to hang from the ceiling. She withholds information from me like she's got something so special she needs to share in tidbits. When we pick her up from school, she is never quick to tell us what she did that day. She is still bouncy and has a big smile when we see her walking in the line to the black top and when we ask how school was it's been a resounding "GOOD!" each time. But when asked what she did that day, she smiles and says, "I'm not ready to tell you." Then, throughout the day, she has 'giddy moments' where she says, "I want to tell you something that happened in school today!" and then she shares a great little story about her new best friend Peyton; about how she forgot to pull her snack bag out and instead started eating her lunch too early but then stopped; about how she has already earned two tickets for good behavior and that she hasn't received any blue tickets for bad behavior; how the fan in the bathroom and the automatic flush don't scare her; how she wants to have new sneakers so she can run faster on the playground; how she can now read her entire Bobo book by herself; how she tells the teacher she needs to go to the bathroom (by raising her thumb), if she needs a drink of water (by raising her pointer finger) and how she tells the teacher she didn't really like the activity they did (by raising her pinky - though she quickly said that she hasn't raised her pinky yet).

So. Dillen likes school.

I asked her teacher yesterday at pick up how she was doing and her teacher got close to me and said, "She's doing very well. She excels. Today, when I called her name she jumped up immediately and asked 'Yes Ma'am?' I told her that though I appreciate her good manners, she does not have to stand when addressed nor does she need to call me Ma'am!" We both laughed and I explained that Dillen has been taking karate for quite some time and is showing her the respect that her karate instructor expects.

Sean took Dillen to school today and said that when she got to the doorway she bowed in (like she does prior to walking in or leaving the karate studio). When Dillen overheard Sean saying this she said, "I do that now every time I walk into the classroom. I love it that much!"

Me?

Well, I'm not loving school yet. Of course I don't tell her this. I am so happy she is enjoying it and wants to go back "day after day" and that she wants to "stay in Kindergarten for the rest of her life." But I miss her. Terribly. I get her home around 3PM and she goest to bed by 7PM. That's only four hours with my sweet girl... it's not enough. I feel like I am missing out - that someone else is getting to enjoy everything about her that I love and adore. I hate missing out on watching her learn and grow and not being able to listen to her answers and her thought process during the day. I want to be there.

Today was no easier then the first day.

Roxy is hanging in there. We keep each other busy but I can see that she misses her sister during the day, too. She's stopped asking where Dillen is and instead just asks, "Dillen's still in school?" And I respond by looking at the clock and telling her how much longer before we get to pick her up. It will be different for Roxy when Piper arrives and then when we can enroll her in classes of her own (most of which she needs to be 3 - dance, gymnastics, art).

But, for now, Roxy and I are baby stepping through the day and trying to adjust to the first of many transitions coming our way.