Mom seems to have struggled taking care of the kids all week. Not that they were overly terrible for her, it sounds like. But she's getting old. She hasn't taken especially good care of her body, and so it's hard for her to move around, and taking care of little kids takes a lot out of a person physically, not to mention emotionally. She said she was just exhausted from having them for a week. We were super grateful to her for taking them for the week, but it was hard for her, and it's not something we'll ask her to do again, most likely.
She said she had a good time with them, and she really took a liking to Jack (obviously, because he's the cutest, sweetest, happiest baby on the planet), and she said Brooke was a little hard. Brooke likes to be in charge, and she's just full of good ideas that aren't quite possible all the time. I'm sure that was difficult for someone who isn't used to it. Even I have to remind her who is really in charge around here. :)
Mom's Texts to us while we were in Hawaii:
What I've learned about Jack:
1. Second cutest baby ever born. (Leslie is number one! )
2. He doesn't like to have his face washed. At all!
3. Sweet and happy all the time. What a joy.
Things I've learned about Camille:
1. Can entertain herself. Awesome.
2. She is delightful except when someone offends her.
3. Content to go along for the ride.
4. Not a problem to take shopping.
5. Had not has any sleeping problems.
Things I learned about Brooke:
1. Great imagination! Always had a plan. (Reminds me of Julie. Must be a first born thing).
2. Wants me to buy everything at the store. (When I say, " No. " she asks, "Why"? A lot.
3. Is very helpful and obedient.
Things I have learned about Me!
1. My arthritic thumbs don't like Camille's carseat! Ouch!
2. I'm old! Went to bed at nine last night. I was pooped out.
3. I LOVE my Holbrooks! (Well, I knew that but it grabs me every time i am here.
This morning Camille came into your bathroom while i was curling my hair & putting on my make-up. When I was all finished she said in her excited voice, " Grandma, you're so petty! "
"Thank you Millie!" "I think you need lipstick." So cute. I'm really hooked on her cute adorableness.
The diagnosis is complete. Jack is washclothphobic. ( Yes, that's a real thing cuz he's got it!). You'd think I was killing him...3 times a day.
"This kids is slaying me. Such a sweet boy. Can I take him home with me?"
"This kid has also won me over. What a sweet kid. Love her style. Why do all the clothes end up on the floor? Reminds me of Diane when she was little. 😄😏😫"
"Breakfast of Champions!"
"Am I driving you nuts? Jack loves pigs in a blanket. Ate a whole one plus a crescent roll. Blueberries coming up. He started screaming at me so I gave him another 1/2 dog. Plus 1 cup of blueberries. At least he'll be alive when you get home. 😂"
"This kid is counting the days until mom and dad come home."
"Millie was very specific about what she wanted for lunch."
Right when we got back from Hawaii we were in the midst of all the school stuff. Tuesday night, I took Brooke to do some shopping for school. We bought her a first day outfit and a backpack, plus a bunch of supplies that we ended up not needing at all. The school doesn't require us to provide any supplies for the classroom.
That Wednesday, August 15th, there was an ice cream social for the Kindergarten so that we could meet Brooke's teacher and see the Kindergarten classrooms and see sections of the school. Brooke is going to Old Orchard Elementary School, which is super close, like a 5 minute drive, on the route to church. Her teacher for Kindergarten is Ms. Johnson. She was so cute with the kids at that ice cream social and she seemed just perfect for Brooke. We sat in the classroom and got to know Ms. Johnson and walked out to see the media room and library and cafeteria. The Kindergarteners are sequestered off in a section of the school by themselves. They don't mix with the other grades much, which I think is probably good.
The next day, we were off to school for our first day. Brooke wore her new outfit she picked out, she had her new backpack and a little lunch packed. When she was getting ready for school that first morning, Camille woke up and Brooke told her what she was doing, and Camille started crying. She was so sad that Brooke was starting school. It broke my heart a little bit. The whole family came to drop Brooke off for her first day. Camille and I got out of the car to walk Brooke into her classroom, and we watched her walk through the gate to the lineup area. It was fun and cute. Neither Brooke nor I shed any tears. I think Brooke was a little nervous, but more excited than anything, so she was fine. And I was surprisingly fine, too. I was expecting to be a wreck, dropping off my first kid to school. But I felt like Brooke was ready, and I felt ready too. I think holding her back for this last year from school was really helpful in preparing both of us for this. We were both ready. It was getting to the point, at the beginning of this year, that I wasn't able to keep Brooke occupied and entertained enough. She was always wanting to get together with friends and wanting to do projects and any number of things. And I could do some of that, but not as much as she wanted and requested. She just wasn't getting enough at home anymore.
Anyway, I digress. We dropped her off, and we were all fine. Camille cried in the morning before drop-off, but then she was fine for the rest of the day. She's been the one I've worried about most with this whole school transition, because Brooke is her best friend and she does everything with Brooke. Even when Brooke goes over to play at someone's house, they usually invite Camille to go too. So it's the 2 of them together all the time. She's cried a couple of times in the morning when Brooke leaves to go to school, and she'll ask me repeatedly when Brooke is coming home. But other than that, she's really been fine. I've really enjoyed spending time with just her! She's a delightful human being! It's almost like I'd forgotten how fun she was because she and Brooke are always doing things. Plus, Brooke is quite the squeaky wheel. She's loud and talkative and when she's around she's always talking and playing and asking me to do stuff; it feels like because she's so in-your-face, Camille just sort of fades into the scenery. But now that Brooke is in school, we have more time to talk and play. We've been reading books a lot and playing with toys and playing games. Sometimes we'll go outside in the morning and Camille will ride bikes and play while I workout. It's been so nice. And I've loved it, actually.
I don't know why, but I thought I'd be able to get a lot done when Brooke was in school. Did I just forget that I have 2 other kids at home? Or what? Because, I actually think it's harder to get things done. Since Brooke is gone, Camille doesn't have any other playmates here, so she requires a lot more from me, as does Jack. Camille is pretty good about playing by herself if she has to, but she doesn't usually want to. If we're both upstairs, and I have to go downstairs for a minute, she often follows me, saying, "I don't like to be by myself!" I don't mind at all. Because that means she wants to be with me. Same goes with Jack. I like that they need me and want me, and I recognize that in a few short years, it won't be that way anymore. They'll be a lot more independent and self-sufficient. So I'm soaking it up. But at the same time, it's hard to do anything. I have to remind myself sometimes that it's just a season and that seasons change.
Those first 2 days of school, Thursday the 16th and Friday the 17th, were both early out days. Brooke was out at noon. And for the first 2 full weeks of school Brooke got out of school at noon. It was their way of easing the Kindergarteners into school. After those first 2 weeks, though, it switched to full day Kindergarten and Brooke gets out at 1:40 every afternoon. I'm glad she had those first couple of weeks when they got out early. I think it was helpful for her to get used to going to school every day, without having to go all day long.
Brooke LOVES school! She loves her teacher, she loves her new friends, she loves making new friends, she loves learning, she loves doing art projects and crafts, she loves playing on the playground. It's just right up her alley, really, she loves everything about it. And I think it's finally fulfilling her need to be doing projects and learning new things. She comes home and tells us all about what she's learning; although, when we actually ask her right out about what she's learning, she hems and hahs. It all tends to come out at dinner or when we're playing or just randomly.
So, she loves it. But ... the rest of us are having a hard time getting used to this whole school thing. Having to get up early; waking Brooke up and rushing her out the door (Hillary Erdmann takes her to school for us every morning with Elliot. Brooke and Elliot are in the same Kindergarten class. So fun, huh?); going about our day with only 2 kids in the house; dealing with naptimes, etc.; shopping with 2 kids; finding things to do with these 2 kids; having Brooke get back in the afternoon and finishing out our day as normal. Our schedule is still a little weird to me. It's not a completely unpleasant change; there are some things I like about it (having to wake up early, shopping with 2 kids, hanging out with just the 2 youngers). But it's taking some getting used to.
The other thing that's hard to get used to is all the school stuff that comes with it: papers, phone calls and emails from the school, homework, art projects coming home, form and forms and forms to sign. Etc. It just comes with the territory, and the territory is new to me.
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