In Which We Start School

Earlier this summer I made the choice to leave my job and pull the kids out of daycare. It's been... yeah. They are the most entertaining pair of children, and of course they entertain each other. They also know each other's buttons! Gavin is not a morning person - much like his mother. Shocking. Gabby bounds out of bed ready to take on the world. Most days she leaves him alone, but others she will stare at him and try to hug him, which drives him batshit.

Then he retaliates. He chases her around the house, roaring like some kind of demented mini lion. Oh siblings...

Soon enough came time for back to school shopping. Equipped with special lunchbox and shoes from Granny, new outfit and a stocked backpack, we were on our way. P.G. County schools in my district have a very early start: bell at 7:45 AM and dismissal at 1:55 PM. Fortunately we live right around the corner from the school, so a 7:00 AM wake time still means on-time arrival. Gabby had requested a 5:30 AM wake up call, which I denied for the sake of everyone's sanity. Still, at 7:08, I was being pestered to hurry because she didn't want to be late. Reassured that would not be the case, she consented to pose for some photos.

Of course there was a traffic jam. Our sixty second car ride turned into spending more than five minutes parked at the stop sign to exit the subdivision. No matter, we parked and walked in. At the classroom, Gabby discovers her desk with her name on it is right next to one of her old buddies from daycare. We are dismissed with perfunctory hugs and kisses. It's at this point that Gavin realizes that we are leaving his beloved tormentor behind. 

"Gaaaabbbbyyyyyy! Gaaabby... " The wailing was heartbreakingly pathetic. He kept this up the whole walk back to the car, through a conversation with Granny and with Daddy, and for the ride home.

 I had to console him with a slide show of pics of Gabby. That calmed him down. We puttered about for a bit, got lunch, took a nap, and walked over to pick her up. They ran at each other like they had been separated for a year instead of a day... then it was back to business as usual. This morning when we rolled up to school, I was informed that there was no need to walk her all the way to her classroom. She left us at the end of the hallway to go off by herself, kissing and hugging even more abrupt than yesterday. 

Gavin cried for one minute and was over it.