Brave Kiddos (First Day of New School)

Over a month ago, we had a fake first day of school for the big kids. Very soon after our arrival, we took the kids to see the school we had chosen (it was my first time too!). This is a local private school. There are only a very few other foreign families that send their kids to this particular school. We have our reasons for this. Ask me sometime if you'd like to know.

Here is H in his classroom and N outside her building.

After waiting a few weeks they said the children could start. That was this day...

  

They were so eager and ready! My heart about broke as they walked to school with their Daddy. So much is new for them here and they walked off happy to go to school. They've never had a regular 'five long days of school' schedule before. It's bittersweet for this Mama.

  

I told Mike  that I needed him to take them. I didn't think a bawling Mama at dropoff would really help matters.

 

 Such brave babies. I'm so proud of them.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Unfortunately, an hour later they came walking back. :( 

So what happened was Mike dropped the kids off to their classrooms and were welcomed and happy and ready. Then he went to ask a question of the principal and she said "Oh no! They cannot attend today. The paperwork is not finished!" and promptly sent a colleague to go remove them from their classrooms only 15 minutes later. Sweet N walked in the office to see her Daddy and broke down in tears. She was so ready and all geared up and was so brave and then they told her she couldn't' stay. 

So. Devastating. 

I was pretty frustrated a this point. Paperwork can take an unknown amount of time, I understand. But don't tell children that they can start and then promptly pull them back out.  The kids were frustrated too. Such a roller coaster for them.

So this began about another month of waiting. It was not easy waiting. Our family has been in serious transition for at least six months. We've known that we were going to move almost a year and a half! We had a good routine in Colorado until the baby was born and then everything really changed, as it needed to.

All that to say we all were ready for routine and the kids were more than ready for some more structure and activities than we could give them at this point. We did our best but they definitely had too much screen time... but we gave ourselves grace.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

AND NOW PRESENT DAY...

The kids started school last week. 

FOR REAL!!

A couple weeks ago we adopted the go-and-sit-in-the-office-every-day-to-ask-if-the-paperwork-is-done strategy. In this part of the world it doesn't hurt to show your face and let them know that you're anxious and waiting. Sometimes it just makes a difference. We didn't know if it would make a difference in this case but we sure thought it wouldn't hurt.

And then one day they said the papers (which was actually a security check on Mike and I) were finished. The kids could start in a couple days! Yipppeee!!!

So we gathered uniforms and supplies again and we were all more than ready the second time to send them on their second first day of school.

In the car this time, from our permanent home, not our temporary flat!

I don't' have pics of them returning. But they both came home with grins on their faces and lots to say. Hudson was even welcomed by some schoolmates with a bag of chips, two candy bars and a juice box! (We think it's a bit of a 'celebrity' thing... mine are the only white faces in the school. We are praying about how everyone receives the children because of this).

We are curious to see how things go for the rest of the year. But for now we are so very thankful!