My First Grader

Do not be fooled by the boy's expression. While to me he looks a tad apprehensive in this photo, he felt nothing of the sort on his first day of first grade yesterday. It's true there were many proclamations this summer of, "I just want kindergarten to start over!", and when people would ask him if he was excited to start first grade they got an answer filled with nothing short of dread. But this all changed after I bought his school supplies, and he and his dad delivered them to his classroom earlier this week. Seeing his desk, meeting his teacher, discovering at least one friend was in the mix with him - these all ratcheted up the excitement. He didn't even look back yesterday as he entered the building.

I'm not really surprised by all this. I know my boy. He's like me: new things and change are always scary at first, but once we get warmed up, boy, we are IN! What I am a tad surprised by is my reaction to this whole business, particularly today as he's at his first FULL day of being away from me. He gets to experience all kinds of great new things like eating his lunch in the cafeteria and art class and making new friends. And I want all of those things for him. And, quite frankly, I want this level of peace and quiet for myself. Because there have been ZERO fights this morning (not that that will last forever, I know), and this afternoon I get 2-3 hours of blissful silence. But I still feel kind of lost with JJ gone. It's hard for me not to get to watch him experience all these firsts, only to get a second-hand, less-detailed-than-I'd-like account of his day. I want him to continue to grow. I welcome it. But it's harder than I expected to release him to the world in order to do this.
So I pray. And decide to just be unproductive today, so we can adjust to this new routine. And try not to think about how I'm going to feel in two weeks when Ben starts preschool.

July? Are you there??

I could swear that I JUST flipped my handy-dandy Berghoef family calendar over to July. Suddenly August is all up in my grill, and I'm thinking about things like school starting up again and fall approaching (followed all too quickly by winter. I think we're well aware of my dread of the Old Man and his snowy sabatoge). However, you don't need me nay-saying all over your computer, so I'll focus on more positive aspects of Louwerse life.
It has been a great summer overall. It's been glorious to be out from under the pressure of a schedule and to just enjoy sunshine, swimming, time with friends, indulging our ice cream cravings, firing up the grill. We didn't take any major vacations this summer. Certainly nothing akin to our road trip last year.But that's ok. Regular life is busy enough, so we just didn't complicate it with more places to go, things to see. We've been enjoying getting to know our neighbors and our town a little better, discovering places that before were hidden to us.
As summer does, indeed, wind down, we've been blessed to celebrate some milestone anniversaries in our family. (Side note: this was year 13 for us, and I'll be darned if I didn't try insisting to my husband it was 12. That doesn't speak well for the state of my brain cells. They do grow back, right?) Last weekend my grandparents celebrated 65 years of marriage. We had an awesome time of gathering as a family, reminiscing, capturing the moment via photograph, etc. And of course, stuffing our faces. Because no party (particularly a Dutch one) is complete without a buffet. A darn good one, at that. It's been about two years or so since I can remember my mom's whole side of the family being together like that, and it was really cool just to catch up with everyone and to revel in the blessed heritage we have received from the Gp's.
The boys and I are currently back in MI for a bit of an extended visit, as has become somewhat of our tradition the last few summers. The primary reason for our trek to this side of the lake is to celebrate my mom and dad-in-law's 50th (FIFTIETH!) anniversary this weekend. In this day and age, it's no easy feat to accomplish the Big Gold. And they have reached it with flying colors. Can't wait to be together with family and reflect upon their years together. I am truly blessed to have married into this fantastic group of people that I love and respect so much. Anyway, stay tuned for details on all that fun.
While I try to hang onto my last shreds of sanity whilst awaiting the start-up of school, I fully intend to enjoy these last days of summer freedom with my boys. I hope the same can be said for you. (The enjoyment of summer, not the shreds of sanity part.)