How fast they grow up
With the except of the year we home-schooled Bob, we've basically gone through a ritual with our kids for four years, beginning in September: Bringing them to the bus.
It's required in our town that kids in Kindergarten, first and second grades -- all of whom are segregated to their own school -- be accompanied to and from the bus stop by a parent or family member. Some kids on the routes have older brothers or sisters, grandparents or other family members meet them at the stop every day, but since Bob is our oldest, it's always been one of us that brings him there and picks him up. In fact, the principal of the school tells parents in an assembly every fall that the bus drivers aren't supposed to let the little ones off the bus unless someone is there to take responsibility for them.
Well, Bob's in third grade this year, and that means he's going to the town's second elementary school, which will take him through sixth grade (then he goes to the high school for grades 7-12). That means a different bus route and a different routine. Starting in third grade, kids can walk to the bus stop themselves.
It's thrown me for a loop the last couple of days, watching him go out the door and come back in on his own, and it's reminded me of how fast the kids grow up. Bob and Emme are now in different schools, and that suits him just fine, as he finds his little sister to be a bratty menace and a source of endless stress.
It also made Bonnie and me do some quick math: When James, who starts pre-school next week, is Kindergarten-aged, Emme (who just started first grade yesterday) will already be in the other school. And by the time James reaches that second elementary school, Emme will have moved on to the high school.
I guess I better start saving for the kids' college education one of these days.