Saved by the bell

In any household with school-aged kids, the end of summer is marked by the first day of school.

E's first day came a little earlier this year because he started at a new school.  Poor kid is on his 4th elementary school and is only in 1st grade.

The upside to changing schools one more time is that we've finally found the PERFECT learning environment for him.  Going to school is no longer an everyday fight.  The meltdowns related to school have nearly disappeared, and his light and energy that was slowly disappearing over the last two years have finally returned.  We feel so blessed that all the stars aligned to lead us to this school.

One of the most memorable events at his school so far was a visit from this guy.

 

Okay so it's not a great picture, but that is indeed the Fonz.  He, like most of the kids at E's school, is dyslexic.  Henry (yes, after you eat breakfast with a tv icon you get to be on a first-name basis with them) shared his story of how hard it was getting through school.  He's even written a book series that's semi-autobiographical about the adventures and challenges of Hank Zipzer.  After a fundraiser breakfast, Mr. Winkler went to the school and read to the kids from his book.  E had no idea who he was but it made a huge impression on him.  Every time he sees Henry Winkler on the TV he says, "Hey that's Henry Winkler, or that's Hank Zipzer".  And if you know E, you would know how significant it is that he remembers someone's name.

The only downsides to the school are that it is a bit of a commute and the carpool line is eternally long. But the silver lining to having to sit in the LONGEST carpool lines EVER every day is that Sis can't help but give in to naps even though she gave those up years ago.

Miss A has also had the perfect teacher for her this year. She's in a class with her best friend W (just refer to many of the previous posts if you don't remember who he is). I'd love to say that she loves school, but on a quite regular basis, she feels the need to turn the drama on and act like getting ready for school is the end of the world.  At least she was smiling on the first day of school. 

 

Her first day back to school was also the same day as the return of kids eat free on Tuesdays at Ikea so we went for some free meatballs to celebrate the completion of one day of pre-K.  
The employee's in Smaland even sent her home with a little souvenir of her first day. This became our weekly Tuesday tradition. We'd eat, Miss A would play, and I would wanter aimlessly, yet child-free, around the store.