First Day of School, the Soccer Mom and Swim Taxi

August 19th:

First day of school.   Kids rode the bus the second day, all three of them.  Thank goodness because this year every one of my children goes to a different school and they all start at the SAME TIME!  Simon in First Grade at Prattville Primary, Justin in 4th grade at Prattville Elementary, and Millie in 7th grade at Prattville Junior High (and Noah in preschool 3 days a week at First Presbyterian).  The bad news is, the boys bus arrives promptly every morning at 6:20am.  Really?  Wake up time for our entire house is now 5:40am.  Not fun for the pregnant mother.  Ugh!  So far the kids have adjusted relatively well to the strict "Yes Ma'am" manners expectations in the south.

I officially became a first time soccer mom soon after school started.  Except I have a hard time claiming the rights to that title, since I didn't do much.  Neal was more a soccer dad, taking Simon to and from practice and most of his games.  (For the record, Millie did play a season when she was 6, but I was tied down with an infant and therapy for the other boys, and a deployed hubby, so a friend took Millie to most of her stuff, poor deprived child).  Simon LOVED soccer!  By the end of the season, he was really getting into it, following rules and staying "in the game".  We are so proud of him!

Millie has taken swimming to the next level, and joined the year round competitive Prattville Swim League.  She practices 5 days a week, including 2 early morning 5:40am practices, and attends swim meets every few weeks.  Its nice that she is old enough for me to drop her off and the pool is 1.5 miles from the house, so it is convenient.  But with that many practices, I do feel like a swim taxi at times.  She is loving it and improving at every swim meet!   We are proud of Millie for her hard work and dedication!