We are now about one month into our life as a family with a true preschooler. Let me tell you, Kenzie LOVES every minute of school. She was born to do this. (Definitely my kid... haha!)
Every Tuesday or Thursday when she gets up and I tell her that she has school that day, she gets so excited. She runs into her classroom barely stopping to give me a hug or kiss on the way. When I pick her up, she tells me all about her day in only the way that a 3-year-old could. I hear all about playing outside, drawing, centers, etc... but very little about actual learning despite the fact that if I ask her what she read or learned, she can usually tell me. As any normal preschooler would though, she learns through play so I am okay with her telling me all about the fun play activities she does. She has done show and tell, gone to chapel, and done gym buddies. All of which she loves.
While all that is going on though, my "schedule" has altered quite a lot. The first week of school I really, really missed having Kenzie around. It was just so QUIET with one child in the house. Especially one that isn't even a year old yet. Naptimes were weird. I almost don't remember this feeling at this point. When Will is awake, it is much calmer around the house. Now that we are a few weeks in, Will and I are finding our groove and learning how to get a lot of things done while we are just two instead of three.
Our Tuesday/Thursday schedule has become one of my favorites. Kenzie had so much time one-on-one with me and I am so happy that now Will gets some of the same attention.
We usually are awake between 7 and 7:30. We all eat breakfast and then everyone gets dressed. Kenzie and Will play for just a bit before we leave the house in time to drop Kenzie off by 9. Once we drop Kenzie off, Will and I will either run a quick errand if it is close by (for instance, Publix is on the way home so we can do that together and be home pretty quickly) or we will go home and play for a while. Will naps around 10. I am finding that on days that Kenzie isn't home, typically Will naps around 1.5 hours. It isn't super quiet in the house because I'm still moving around (and finally getting back into a cleaning schedule... which I swear by... rather than doing a lot of cleaning all day one day of the week), but it is worlds quieter without Kenzie running amuck. Those naps occur about 75% of the time so I am thankful for that now. I still miss Kenzie, but I love getting things done in a timely manner again. Once Will wakes up, we usually eat lunch and then either play or run an errand if we have one before going to get Kenzie by 1:30. Once we pick up Kenzie, we come home for nap/rest time. Will's second nap is around 2 or 2:30 and Kenzie usually just relaxes and watches TV for a bit while Will naps. Once he is awake we play until Steven gets home from work. I am working on finding the right balance of time to get back into more and more cooking. I'm still finding my groove with that. Some days are easier than others. If I can prep dinner while Will is napping, I can usually cook just about anything... but if I can't get that done then we have a few more issues. Watching two children and trying to cook is still a bit demanding for me.
I know it's funny. There are parents out there with 2 or more kids that probably laugh at me when I say that I am still working on figuring all this timing out and learning how to have two little ones. It I what it is though. Will is almost a year old and I am STILL finding my way at times. Variations of normal, I guess.
This transition into Kenzie going to school has been a pretty good one though. Above all, Steven and I are just stoked that she loves school so much. We worried that she might be shy. We worried that she might not like it. We should have known better. This girl is smart. She loves to learn. She loves people. She is definitely a social butterfly. She is blossoming and we are loving every minute of it.
Oh.... and before I end this, I HAVE to share with you one of our favorite things she has learned so far in school. This seriously made both of us smile so big and now we try to get her to do it before meals whenever possible.
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