10 Things I Love About My Kindergarteners

Zach and Allie with their cousin Trent

It's been nearly three months now since Zach and Allie -- my babies -- have been in kindergarten.

I'm sure a lot of us moms share the same mishmash of emotions as our youngest starts school -- alternating between between gearing up for a happy dance because we finally get a chunk of our lives back and grabbing the tissue box because we realize that our days filled with chasing butterflies, blowing bubbles, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and maneuvering the big "car" cart at the grocery store have been traded in for homework, backpacks and school lunches.

And somehow having twins makes it feel like it's sped by even faster. Between the blur of sleeplessness in the early days and the fatigue of chasing and entertaining two little balls of energy in the toddler days, this whole having-all-my-kids-in-school-now thing still seems a bit surreal. But I do have to say that I've always loved having a kindergartener -- or two! -- in the house.

With Zach and Allie, I love that they:

• Still hold my hand as I walk them to school ... and then give me a hug and kiss before they join their classmates in line. Zach gives me an extra special, unique, crossed-arm wave each day as his class heads into the classroom and the last few Moms (yes, I confess, I'm one of them) lingers around to wave good-bye.
  
• Are so excited on days they get to buy lunch. "Mommy, mommy, check what's for lunch today," Allie always asks.
• Want to do homework. "More, more, can we do one more page, Mom." No bribes, rewards or threats involved ... so refreshing (uh-hum, Blake. Cough, cough, Nick).
  
• Get so excited when they see Blake or Nick at school. When it happens, it's always the first thing they tell me. "Mom, I saw Nick in the bathroom today." or "Mom, I saw Blake going into the cafeteria." So sweet ...
  
• Sing new songs around the house. "B-L-U-E spells blue. B-L-U-E spells blue. Hi, ho, did you know, B-L-U-E spells blue."
• Look around at words and sound them out with a new mission in mind. Out at dinner one night and Zach, his eyes stuck on a restaurant sign and his eyebrows scrunched as his brain juice pumped, asked, "Mom, does that spell pizza?" Indeed it does.
• Are so excited when I come into their class to help. "Mommy ... are you coming in to help today," they ask about every other day.
• Come home eager to share what they've done. "Mommy, look, we made pumpkins," as they proudly hold up their paper cutout pumpkins covered in orange square pieces of tissue paper.
• Have huge smiles on their faces when I pick them up at the kindergarten gate at the end of the day.
• Pretend to play teacher when they're at home. Allie will grab a book and read it to her class, which usually consists of stuffed animals or imaginary students. It's so cute watching her hold up the book to show her "students."

"And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together."

~ Robert Fulghum, All I Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten

Zach and Allie Go To Kindergarten

And just like that, Zach and Allie are in kindergarten. And Nick started 4th grade. And -- gulp! -- Blake is now a 7th grader.

We've been getting ready for weeks. Reading and re-reading Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten, picking out the perfect backpacks and lunch boxes (Transformers for Zach, Hello Kitty for Allie), buying some new duds, getting some new sneakers (and learning that Allie's feet are a size and a half bigger than Zach's!). And of course, conquering the list of school supplies published on the school's web site.

For Blake and Nick, there wasn't much excitement -- or at least it was contained. I so vividly recall how excited Blake would get for the first day of school, organizing his binder so perfectly and smiling so brightly as I took first-day-of-school pictures. Now it's all so casual for him.

And Nick, well, Nick's never been too excited for the first day of school. I tried my best to make the morning go smoothly. I got up early and showered, had all the lunches made with time to spare, had the kids pick out their clothes the night before, had the backpacks ready to go.

But of course, there was bound to be a glitch or two.

Blake left first (it's not cool to be seen with your parents, you know) ... but forgot his schedule. So I had Nick run out to try to catch him with the schedule. And in our hurry to have him reach Blake, he forgot his lunch (but don't worry, grandmas, we got it to him:). And this is only Day 1.

So Brett and I accompanied Zach and Allie on the short (but scorching hot -- I think we hit about 107 on Monday) walk.

We met the teacher at the gate, got in line and walked them to their seat (they're in the same class, but not sitting together) in the class. Zach got weepy, kept asking for "one more kiss and hug." Allie got a bit teary, too, but stayed composed.

When I picked them up, Zach said it "was long." But they both proudly showed me their coloring papers and told me about their jobs for the day: Allie was in charge of turning off the lights and Zach was the door holder.

Once I got home I hopped on the treadmill, but the rest of the day seemed surreal and I had a hard time focusing. I went to the grocery store and tried to do a few chores and made cookies.

I've always loved time to myself, but on this day, 3:30 couldn't come fast enough.