it never gets easier

Somehow it never gets easier for me when our kids get closer to going to kindergarten.  With Anika having her birthday in September I've had her home a year longer but still today came and a big part of me is really sad to see her growing up.

Today was Kindergarten roundup at her school and all the kids going to kindergarten (that's one grade before 1st grade but really it is as if they were going to 1st grade) came to meet their new teachers.  I was surprised at how many kids came with both parents.  I was the odd one in Ani's class with no husband there and it didn't even occur to me to ask Ehren to come.  It really wasn't a big deal, not like the first day of school, but it was really fun.  We have talked about going to see the kindergarten teacher for a couple of weeks now so both girls were excited.  Emily is also going to be in kindergarten and I requested them to split the girls apart mainly because Anika is very attached to her and will not leave Emily's side when they're in a group of kids.  I am really hoping she will find new friends there and will get over some of her shyness because I hear that in preschool she doesn't say much to anyone which is not like her at all.  She loves kids and playing with them and when she's all alone she doesn't know what to do with herself, but she's also very shy if she doesn't know the kids well.  But that's part of kindergarten and getting more socially ready.

The parents left their kids in their classrooms for about 40 minutes while we had the principal, the lunch coordinator, busing director, the school nurse and some other people talk to us about how everything functions and what's expected, etc.  The cafeteria was just packed with parents and looking around I was surprised at how many people in the community I know that have their kids going to kindergarten with Emily and Anika.  It's going to be a good grade. :)

But it never stops being sad for me as we get closer to one of our kids going to kindergarten.  It was sad with Kade although back then they only had half days kindergarten.  For Anika, it will mean getting on the bus at 7:30am and coming home at 3:30pm which is a long time for me to not see her. :(  It seems to me like the kids change so much during kindergarten.  They get so much more independent and responsible, which Anika already is both of those.  She doesn't want me to help her with anything and she is so responsible for her "jobs" or chores.  Ehren and I were just talking the other day how she gets up in the morning and before she does anything else, she rushes to feed her cat.  Every day, we don't need to say anything or remind her to do something like we do with Kade.  Partly it's probably a girl thing and partly she loves taking care of anyone and she could probably do all of my job of taking care of the babies if I let her. :)

It is also interesting to me how much the curriculum changes for kindergarten over the years.  When I was little we didn't have to know hardly anything going to 1st grade while now there is a whole list of skills they need to learn before even kindergarten starts.  By the end of kindergarten they want all the kids to read and write, count to 100, learn all the coins and figuring out money, clock and other things I forget.  So it is a lot to work on and it's not just fun and games like when we were in kindergarten.  I do know that kids learn so much at that age, especially reading is so good to work on but I do wonder sometimes if they push them to do too much too soon like writing and cutting which can be hard for little kids that don't enjoy drawing.

But the school year is almost done and we have summer vacation to look forward to.  I get to spend it with 7 and some days 8 kids in the house. :)  Every summer we first have a couple weeks of complete chaos, kids wanting to do everything at once or else fighting over everything and not knowing what to do with all their time.  So I am starting to think of having a schedule with activities that will break up our days better.  One of the things I want to do is to have a lesson of Slovak a few times a week with all the kids.  I have no idea how it will go with 2 18 month olds running around and not wanting to sit still but at least I'll try.  The biggest thing is to always think ahead about lunches and snacks because x 8 is a lot of food in one day. But this summer I want to start strong and enjoy having my kids at home all day versus constant arguing and telling them what to do.  So I need to keep remembering the house will be very quiet in the Fall when I will only have 3 kiddos at home during the day.