First Trip to the Pool

We've had such a busy day today! This morning was "bus orientation" for summer school. So, I loaded up Ethan, his friend Leyton and Abby to go and learn all about riding the bus. We learned about bus safety, watched a video and then they told us we got to go on an actual bus ride. I thought this sounded like fun. Apparently Ethan had other thoughts. We were in a room full of parents, siblings and future kindergarteners headed out to get on the bus when he threw one huge hissy fit. I'm not talking a little fit - I'm talking about screaming, crying, clinging to my leg fit. He kept yelling "I'm not going on the bus. I'm not going to school. I'm going to stay home with you for the rest of my life". He was THE ONLY one throwing a fit. To top it all off, children younger than school age aren't allowed to be transported on the bus, so I was trying to get him on the bus while I stayed in the parking lot with Abby. I really wish they would have told us this ahead of time and I would have left Abby with a friend. But anyway, there I was with a screaming, crying 5-yr-old and his friend who kept plugging his ears asking "jeesh, what's wrong with him?" and Abby saying "It OK Ethan, it only a school bus. It not hurt you". Finally some very nice lady who worked at the bus building took pity on me and offered to keep Abby so I could ride on the bus with Ethan. I felt like a terrible Mom leaving my daughter with this woman I didn't know, but I really wanted to get Ethan on the bus. So, I left my 2-yr-old in the arms of a stranger (she did great - they bribed her with animal crackers) and got on the bus with Ethan and Leyton. Ethan did eventually calm down and we practiced getting off the bus and getting picked up at the bus stop. Who knew this could all be so complex! It will be interesting to see how the first day of summer school goes....... He has such a hard time with transitions - he cried everyday for 3 months when we moved to Liberty and he went to daycare. I have visions of dragging him into a dorm room in about 13 years and having to remove a future college freshman clinging to my leg so I can leave him with his new roommate.



Then we headed over to our friend Lucy's house for a BBQ. The kids had a great time and I was able to leave them at Lucy's while I snuck away to attend my weight watchers meeting in peace (only 1 more week until I make lifetime - yeah!!). I got back to Lucy's and found she was planning to go to the pool, so I decided to keep Abby up from her nap and head down to the pool. Today was the first day it's been warm enough with no rain to go to the pool, so I figured we should take advantage of it. The kids had fun, but Ethan was done after about 45 minutes. Abby would have stayed until the pool closed at 10pm if she had a choice;) So, we came home and Ethan passed out on the couch. I guess all that screaming, crying, playing and swimming exhausted him. Abby is watching Calliou and I'm enjoying a little peace and quiet! You'll notice Abby actually has pig tails in her hair in the above pics - this morning while we were getting ready to head to the bus orientation she told me "I want pretties - you make me horsey tails?" It was too cute:)