1st grade

Before I start let me preface this by saying no one should ever doubt how much I love my children BUT I'm not blinded by that love and I know they are not perfect. I am an honest person by nature and willing to be honest about my struggles in mommyhood. So if you only want to read glowing reviews of the mommy experience then this isn't the place for you. BUT I don't think my girls are she-devils either and I'm not hear to bitch and moan about how terrible they are...its the fine line inbetween...or so I hope.


I expect Kindergarten to be a hard year for my oldest and I...adjusting to all the new expectations, new friends, new responsibilities and so...and while there were certainly some ups and downs for the most part the year went smoothly and she transitioned into Kinder like a pro.

1st grade however has been a little trickier for us. Schoolwise she is still doing as well as ever, she loves learning, and still loves going to school. One of her best friends from last year and her boyfriend (same one from Kinder) are in her class plus she has added some new friends to the mix as well. She has had very few problems adapting to the longer day and high expectations. Our real issue has been...well the same issue She and I always have...independence...I swear my girl thinks she's 16 instead of 6 sometimes. I don't mind that she is an independent child, as a matter of fact a LOT of the time its a wonderful thing....but when she tells me to leave dance class or asks me to leave her Daisy meeting because she wants to be a big girl we have a problem...not that she wants to be independent but how she goes about asking for the independence. Her 1st sentence was "I do it" and she said it about everything even things she obviously couldn't do at age 2 and would get quite mad when you helped her. She is still that way, thinks she can do anything and everything without help even when she simply can't. Since I am a teacher I would have seriously considered home schooling my kids but she and I couldn't even get through a simple preschool workbook without major fights and drama, she is convinced she can do everything herself and doesn't need mommy to explain it! So the 1st month of school was pretty rocky for us...but after a few fights and lots of conversations we seem to have a mutual understanding...I will give her independence in appropriate ways but when I say I'm coming and staying then that's it. Honestly I know this is an "issue" we will have to readdress every time she gets too big for her britches! :)

She is in Daisy's again this year with almost the same troop. We just love the girls and moms in this troop. There has been peace and harmony all year and looks like that will continue...we all seem to be on the same page about what we want for our girls and that's so awesome.

All Kinder my daughter has begged to be on the school's dance team, so this year she is on it. She loves it and loves even more that several friends are on the team as well. She is excited to get her uniform and to perform at a school function. Unfortunately for her though, she inherited her mother's lack of rhythm and grace so its pretty funny watching her dance but more then half the team is full of 1st & 2nd grade "white" girls so she blends right it! lol

Here is a picture of her on the first day of school. She spent a half an hour picking out the prefect 1st day of school dress. And of course the backpack couldn't be anything other then Hannah Montana!