“I’m An Instruction Worker”

As told to me just now by our oldest while all three of them are building “ponds” for us at Ocoee Farm. And that really is such great news, him being an instruction worker and all, because the farm could use more helping hands.

There are a million of these statements coming from them almost every day and I really wish I would write them down more. They always catch me off guard and they’re so funny and innocent.

I never want to forget them!

It’s The Little Things, Isn’t It?

When the school year started, I wasn’t sure if I would like walking the kids to and from school every. single. day. It sounded nice in theory: quality time with them, fresh air, a little exercise. But doing it four times a day (since the boys get out at different times) seemed like it would get a little…repetitive? Monotonous? And what about when it rained or snowed?

I used to walk our oldest to school over a year ago before he did virtual learning for Kindergarten and I remember loving it, especially when the weather was nice. But four times a day? I had my hesitations. 

But now it’s about three weeks in and I. love. it. It’s become one of my favorite parts of the day. The walks to school in the morning with the boys (and sis if she feels like tagging along) have become part of our routine as a family and something I now look forward to doing.

In the mornings, we talk about school and what they’re going to eat for lunch. We talk about new friends they’ve made and their teachers. Right now their favorite thing to do is to try and find bugs on the sidewalk and shriek when they actually do (most of the time they think they see one but it’s actually just a piece of mud). Last week there was a grasshopper that our oldest found that looked like a leaf, and he told me all about how they camouflage to protect themselves from predators who might want to eat them. Isn’t that so cute?

He gets so excited about insects and bugs that he almost can’t control himself, and he’ll say things like, “My heart is beating so fast right now and I am shaking”. So cute. Lately they’ve been finding dead cicadas on the sidewalk and they think they’re the coolest things ever. Me, not so much.

On the way home, they tell me about their days and what they learned. It’s like for a few minutes a day, it’s just them and us in the world and we get to hear about the good, the bad and the fun they had during their few hours at school. They tell me what they had for lunch and if they liked it or not. They sing me songs they learned from their teacher. They tell me their friends’ names and always get so excited when they’ve made a new one. They carry their backpacks home with pride as they skip out the school doors. There’s nothing in younger brother’s at the moment, but that doesn’t stop him from holding onto it for dear life on the way home.

I just got back from walking them to school this morning and, after all the rain we’ve been having, the air was cool, crisp, and refreshing. It felt like fall. I’m already getting excited for our walks to and from school in a few weeks; seeing the leaves change and fall to the ground, wearing layers to stay warm. Little things to get excited about.

Speaking of little things, I didn’t mean to write as much as I did on this post, but I suppose I feel very strongly lately about appreciating the little moments in life that bring joy. You know, the ones you don’t really even think about too often because you’re too busy or you have a million things on your mind, but when you take time and actually do think about them, you realize they might be more important than they first appear. They might equate to the big moments that mean something and add up to a life of wholeness.

Yes, it really is the little things. But, maybe, they’re not so little after all.

Who Knew School Drop-Offs Would Be This Emotional?

While dropping little sis off at school yesterday, we may or may not have both cried in the car.

Lately, now that she is in school, our 3 year old has been telling everyone in the house how she misses them during the day. To her brother: “I miss you Fa-Fa at tool (school).” Fa-Fa = the name she calls our middle child, even though his name doesn’t start with an F and only sort of sounds like what she’s trying to say. 😂. But it’s cute and we love it, so we don’t correct her.

She’s used to spending all day every day with all of us, so I totally get why she takes the time to tell everyone how much she misses them when she’s gone, because to be honest, we miss her, too.

On the way to school yesterday, she was saying it to me from the backseat: “I miss you, daddy.” I thought it was so sweet, and so I told her that I will miss her, too. She said it again before we pulled up, so again, I let her know how much I will miss her. And finally, when we pulled up to her school and I turned off the car and unbuckled my seatbelt, she said it a third time: “I miss you at tool, daddy.” Only this time, her eyes were filled with tears as she was smiling trying to keep them from falling down her cheek. This time, she was telling me, in so many words, that she wasn’t ready to say goodbye for the day.

And just like that, my eyes suddenly started to tear up, too, and I felt a pain in my chest. We hadn’t experienced this with any of the kids yet, and I thought we had avoided it altogether this year. All of them had been so eager and excited to start school that I thought we blew past the not-wanting-to-go phase. Up until that point, she had been more than willing to walk into her classroom every day.

I told her it’s okay to cry if she’s sad because I do it, too, and that we’re supposed to miss people when they’re gone; it’s how we know how much we love them, but even that won’t stop us from having the best day ever! She ended up being fine, gave me a big hug goodbye and walked into her classroom ready to start the day.

Whew. Those are some strong feelings at 8 in the morning, aren’t they? It’s so different with the boys and dropping them off, I think because she’s still younger than they were when they both started school, so it’s a little harder to say goodbye to her for a few hours every day. Today, however, things didn’t end so well. She ended up bawling as I signed her in and wouldn’t let go of my neck. I knelt down and put her on my knee and held her for a few minutes to calm her down but to no avail. She wasn’t ready.

It ended up being for the best, though, because last night she started having a runny nose, so we took this as a sign that we should take her to the doctor with her brother this morning ( poor guy got a strep throat confirmation). Looks like neither of them will be going to school tomorrow, so we’re hoping by Monday she will be back in the game and ready for a new week with her teachers, her classmates, and without her dads for a few hours a day.

Who knew school drop-offs would be this emotional?