We made it. One full year of school is officially under our belts.
Not just for Gabrielle, but for us as parents, too. It was all totally new and eye opening.
I am a mix of emotions over it.
Happy: my girl is growing up! Oh thank god we don't have to commute five days a week now! She's grown so much - I'm so unbelievably proud of her!
Sad: my girl is growing up.
Nervous: my girl is growing up.
Freaking out: omg you mean I have to entertain her MYSELF all summer?!?
Confession time. It hasn't even been a week and I'm in a summer vacation slump. I totally did not change either kid (or myself, duh) out of pajamas today. Jimmy went to work, eventually we had dinner, showered, and put fresh PJs on.
Thankfully, I have a full week lined up for the rest of the week because I think both Gabby and I are about to go crazy. Genna doesn't seem to mind staying home still, but she hasn't been exposed to school yet, so she doesn't know what she's missing. Ha.
ANYWAY!
I still can't believe it's been a full school year. It really flew by. Between school breaks (omg, I don't think I ever realized how many days off kids get! Fall break, thanksgiving break, Christmas/winter break, mardi gras break, Easter/spring break - each a full week or two long!), that whole month where I broke my damn foot and my parents lived with us, and just life in general... Where did it go?
And my god... She grew. She's not a baby anymore. Seriously. She had barely turned three on her first day (literally the day before!), and here we are only two months away from having a four year old. I can't express anything other than awe. And grief, too, because c'mon. My first baby...
Look at her (August 22, 2012 vs. June 4, 2013):
I covered this in one of my recent posts, but her understanding and speaking of French still blows me away. It is part of everyday life for us now, though. Genna even speaks and (I think...?) understands little snippets of the little bits I speak.
She's more social now. There are days when I second guess our decision to enroll her in school so young, but then I see how she's grown and I realize that I alone wouldn't have been able to give that to her. Jimmy and I are not naturally social creatures and we have a very small circle of friends. Making friends or getting involved in social groups is hard for us, so without school, our children just don't have access to a lot of other children on a regular basis (playgrounds/play centers/zoos and the like aren't what I mean - we frequent those places - but play dates, social gatherings - we don't).
Gabby and her teacher, Madame Nathalie.
And to hear from her teachers about her progress, that's reassuring as well. She's always been shy (I don't like using that word because I was labelled as "shy" for all of my childhood and most of my adult life, but it's the best way to describe her demeanor, I suppose), And I don't foresee that changing about her, but knowing that she can and does open up - it makes me happy.
So, with summer upon us in full force, I have activities planned for us, including visits with school mates and one of Gabby's French teachers, and I hope to detail those more here as we go about them.
My darling girls... What will the next year bring?
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