KINDERGARTEN!!!

Where have the last five years gone?!?! Eli just finished his first week of kindergarten. On the way home, I asked him to describe it using only 3 words. He said, "Cool, awesome and best!!" He loves his teacher, Mrs. Scamperino. She even got an extra hug on the first day after school before I got one. His best friend David isn't in the same class, which was devastating at first. However, he does know one girl that is in his class, Charlotte, which made it better. The first four days we walked him in and got him settled in his class. This morning, he informed me that he was ready to do it by himself. I was a little sad, but also a little relieved when I realized that meant that I didn't have to get up at 6:15 in order to have time to shower, get dressed, finish packing his lunch, get Zoe ready and be out the door by 7:40. So, I'm back to taking him in my pajamas :)

Starting school has meant a few changes around the Tomasino house. We now have this thing called a bedtime, after school chores and no more naps for Eli. I am trying to have dinner ready by 6:30 (which is early for us), showers and bath by 7:15 and kids heading to bed by 8:00. When Eli gets home, he is responsible for feeding Harley, taking out his portion of the trash and packing his lunch for the next day. He takes a lunch and an afternoon snack each day. I bought 3 plastic shoe boxes for the pantry. Two of them are for lunches, one with chips and crackers and one with dessert. The other is for snacks. He chooses one item from each box and I make the rest in the morning. So far, it is working really well and he isn't doing any complaining about it :) We'll see if it's the same story around week ten!