Kyle's First Day of School

Summer is over, for Kyle at least. Jake won't start for another week. During this week, the Kindergarten teachers do in home visits to meet all the students so it won't be so overwhelming on the first day. But Kyle was up and off to second grade today. He had his new backpack, that he chose all by himself, all loaded with school supplies. He carefully chose his clothes on his own because he wanted to look cool. I think he did a nice job. I see him stretching the limits of his individuality and independence more and more, and I'm struggling to let him have a little more rope. It's a tricky thing, watching your babies grow up and sending them out into the world. Second grade! I just cannot believe how big he is getting. And I'm always surprised, after waiting all summer for school to start again, how sad I am to see him go. I don't miss the bickering and listening to him tell me how bored he is, but I do miss him.

So, some of you may be looking at this thinking that is the strangest school bus you've ever seen, but over here the base schools have contracts with the local coach bus companies. It's pretty fun for the kids to ride these fancy coaches to school each day. There are four schools that service our housing area. The high school, the elementary school and the intermediate school are all on one base, less than a mile apart. Then the middle school is on another base several miles from Lakenheath, where the others are. Four buses stop at our bus stop every morning to pick up all the kids. For the most part, they try to keep the kids grouped according to grade level and school, but sometimes the little kids end up with the high schoolers. Lucky for us, Kyle and Jake got on the Elementary/Intermediate bus.
Here's looking forward to a great school year!