School days

We just finished week two of our new routine. My mom is no longer my full-time nanny and both kids go to the same (new) school. It has been an easier adjustment than expected, but that's due in part to the fact that my mom has still been helping us occasionally with drop-off and pick-up. Backing up...We started Timmy at a new school in January when we moved to suburbia. We LOVED his old school in LA and were very sad to say goodbye to it, so we tried to find something similar to ease his transition. We picked another Montessori school that was pretty new and clean and had a great outdoor play area. It was also super convenient; literally on my way to work/home. It became clear almost immediately that the school was the wrong fit for him and us. While the facility was clean and we felt that he was safe there, the teachers and staff were cold and unfriendly and there was zero sense of community. They offered instrument lessons and Mandarin lessons and sports lessons and pottery lessons, but did not include simple things like "music class." Parents were told not to speak to other children in the classroom and parents did not say hi to each other in the halls. The staff was so unprofessional; I often heard them talking about other families or private issues when I would go to sign Timmy in or out. They obviously didn't treat teachers well...Between lead teachers and assistant teachers, I think Timmy had 10 in his 8 months there. In a word, terrible. We knew we wanted to switch him, but couldn't figure out where to. The other schools that we visited were so far out of the way and so expensive. We toured the school we eventually chose back in March. I liked it and they had an infant room, so we kept it at the top of our list. But then my mom said she'd stay with us through the summer and we held off on a move right then. In May, after we got notice that his lead teacher had left due to a "family emergency" (same excuse for three teachers in a row and always after the teacher had already left), we had had enough. We called the new school and filled out paperwork to put us on the list to register for fall. We registered in mid-July and then waited carefully until the last day of July to give our 30 days' notice to the old school and eventually told Timmy. This new school is SO MUCH further out of the way. It used to take me 25 minutes door to door including drop off. Now it's more like an hour. But we couldn't be happier about our decision. It's like we have a whole new kid (or really, our long lost sweet, amazing boy was returned to us after a really long absence). He is happy and obedient and asks to go to school on weekends again and is emotionally stable and just ...awesome. We had forgotten what it was like to be with him and not struggle over the stupidest things all the time. We attributed his acting out to the terrible threes and a ton of change all at once (baby, move, potty training, new school, etc..) and that all might be true. But the fact that it all disappeared within a day or two of starting his new school tells me that he must have just been totally unhappy at the old school. And that breaks my heart because we should have followed our instincts and taken him out sooner. Ellie has had a bit rougher transition going from being home with Grandma to dropped off with a bunch of kids and teachers she is not used to yet. She cries at drop-off (still, after two weeks), but apparently does great during the day. I know she loves seeing Timmy during the day though, and he loves going up to her when she's out in the buggy rides and giving her big hugs and kisses. The icing on the cake is that we pay less for daycare for both of them than we paid for daycare for Timmy and nanny-care for my mom. We have to do more work to get them both ready and out the door with lunches packed. There is no one to put the roast chicken in the oven mid-afternoon or wash bottles or catch up on laundry during the day anymore, but we are managing so far. Our day starts around 5:45, when PJO and I get up, shower and get ready. We've had a few mornings where we manage to be dressed by the time Timmy runs into our room but often he comes in while we're getting ready. Then we get Ellie and start breakfast and packing up everything. We're out the door by about 7:20. PJO and I switch off drop off and pick up, so generally we each go to the school once a day. We pick up the kids by 5:30 or so and come home, have dinner, straight to bath and bedtime, and then once the kids are down, PJO and I finish cleaning up, packing lunches and getting anything else ready that needs to be done for the next day. I would say we are usually done by 8:30 or 9. I haven't had to work too many nights so far in September, so we'll see how manageable this all is once that factors into the equation. It's a lot of work and the kids are in school for much longer than is ideal each day. But things are better than they were a month ago, so I'll take it. Here are the kids on their first day of school, September 4th!