First Week of School

I am so amazed and glad; Nebyat had a great first week at school. I was a little nervous about how she would do and whether or not she'd start fighting to stay home, but she got up every morning (somewhat reluctantly - this is a child who does not generally appreciate morning or forced awakenings or breakfast). We made it to school each day and she did fine. She excitedly shared her papers with me every day when I picked her up and she seemed so much more confident in general - some days she seemed almost giddy. She hugs her teacher when I drop her off in the morning and I know that she really likes her. One day there was a substitute and Mrs. S_ski (I'll let her remain anonymous too, I guess) was out ill. Nebyat was very glad to see her the next day when we arrived. She's done her homework every evening - I know homework - it's kindergarten people! We selected all of Nebyat's clothes for the week last Sunday and really didn't have any substantial conversations/arguments about clothes all week - YAY! 8:00 bedtime worked fine as long as mommy was home to implement it and Jetu didn't have a nap.

Jetu did well too. She mentioned Nebyat's absence frequently. She said, "Nebyat school, Jetu no do like it!" One day she said she was going to cry but she didn't. She and I worked on colors this week with videos, workbooks, flashcards, etc. We also made it out to the library, the marine science museum/aquarium, to lunch with a friend, so we've had some adventures this week and some good one-on-one time. She's been well-behaved during the day, but throws a few challenges in after Nebyat gets home and well into the evening/bedtime. I cannot really explain it, but I know it's part of this transition period. Last night we were saying bedtime prayers and the girls prayed in Amharic as usual. When they finished I asked who wanted to pray in English...."Thank you Jesus..." Jetu started, she said "Thank you Jesus for mommy. Thank you. Amen" It was very sweet. Nebyat, always the diplomat, followed with "Thank you Jesus for Mommy AND Papa. Amen"

Today was a nice family day, except for mommy losing it a bit earlier in the day when the kitchen sink clogged in the middle of our clean-up-the-house time, the girls were dismantling as fast as mommy was cleaning, and papa suggested it was mama's fault the sink clogged. I have no excuses, I was just feeling testy this morning; my back was in complete spasm, I still didn't get a full night's sleep and I'm just moody! I feel so joyous sometimes, and so, so grumpy others - I don't know what you call this. I know one thing - I'm sick of being sick - I've had this cold/bronchitis, whatever thing since the week of December 7. Jetu started later, but she, too is still coughing a bit. Hopefully, we'll all be over it soon; in the meantime I'm trying to make a conscious effort to respond better to my emotions. I'm also trying to get some exercise in - I think that will go a long way to brightening my mood - really looking forward to those temps coming up out of the 30s though - that's a long walk to the aquarium in 30 degree temps!

Overall, it was a very good day - the girls came in to our room this morning and we spent time goofing around before getting too busy into the day. We made a nice breakfast with fresh pineapple, sausage eggs and toast. We let the girls burn off some energy at a local inflatable jump house while mommy did some quick returns/exchanges at the mall. We went to Red Robin for an early dinner and then came home for some down time.

It's been a good week all around.