First Day of Preschool for Tessa and Annie

Tessa and Annie are in preschool!

Starting preschool at 4.5 years old is its own kind of sacrilege here.  It's common for parents in San Francisco to agonize over preschool as much as they ultimately do over college, and it's certainly atypical to start preschool so late, so we definitely fall towards the other extreme!  I was really hoping the girls wouldn't prove us totally inept parents for keeping them home until now.  

They started a week later than Megan and Bridget, so we experienced a week of cute girls saying things like "I'm going to be brave Tessie and take care of you at school, Annie!" and "No, I don't want to go to school. I don't think I'll like my teachers (Annie)." There were a lot of conflicting emotions, but also a lot of excitement.

Luckily, excitement won out that first morning. They dressed quickly and agreed to wear clothes that matched...not to each other, though. I figure we're bringing enough confusion with these look-a-likes, we can at least spare the teachers a little by dressing them differently. Besides, they rarely want to match, and I didn't want to cause any unnecessary drama by forcing them to wear something they didn't want to wear. Oh, and while Annie was getting dressed, she asked, "What day is it?" Upon learning that it was Monday, Annie smacked the side of her head super dramatically and groaned, "Ugh, when is it going to be Friday?!" I knew that bubble where days of the week didn't matter would burst eventually ;)

Even their hair was different on the first day. As we did during Bridget's last preschool year, we have an hour between drop-offs in the morning, which means we have a "hair hour" after dropping off the big girls. This is such a luxury. I can appear (at least to the preschool teachers!) that I'm a competent mom as my neat, freshly braided girls tumble out of the van each morning. So what if said van smells vaguely of pee and stale coffee? At least hair is braided ;) This is also our book-reading hour. I can read books to my back row of buckled up girls and feel even more competent! 

(All competency will abruptly end at the end of October.)

Speaking of freshly braided girls ready for school...

 Tessa (left) and Annie (right)

We were the first ones to arrive , so we even had time for pictures out front.  I think Mary is literally skipping on her way to drop off these two pesky big sisters!

Once inside, shyness took over a bit. Mary and I went into the classroom with Tessa and Annie to help hang up their backpacks, find their seats and check things out. Of course, they weren't assigned to sit right next to each other, so there was a momentary panic from Annie. Tessa was as cool as a cucumber.

For their first school experience, I think they did really well. I left shortly after these pictures were taken. They had received name tags and barely nodded when their names were called for roll. But, I'm not exaggerating when I say that they had morphed by the time I picked them up three hours later. They were positively brimming with stories and smiles, and rattling off the names of their new friends. They seemed more worldly, suddenly, as much as a preschooler can be worldly. Tessa even said, "Thank you so much for signing us up for Happy Times, Mommy! We love it!" They couldn't wait to go back the next day, and the day after that. This morning, they wondered aloud how their "fourth day" was going to go, and very specifically, if they were going to paint :)

And for anyone interested in their twin relationship at school, they are one of three sets of twins currently enrolled at the school. According to the teachers, Tessa and Annie are the only twins who play with one another. It makes me really happy to know they're voluntarily sticking together. (Playing together yesterday involved riding a bike with a sidecar, and taking turns doing the pedaling for an exhausting 45 minutes!) Apparently, they are very unlike Megan and Bridget were in preschool, too. Already the teachers (who also had the older girls) notice that these two are on the spunkier side and not shy at all, first moments aside.

Phew! You heard it here first. Attending just one year of preschool seems to not damage young pysches...so far, and with a very small study group ;)

Father's Day 2013

We celebrated Father's Day in style this year...matching style. The girls don't own very many matching outfits, and it required a lot of cajoling before mass this morning to get them to actually all wear these matching dresses. Of course, it would have been appropriate if Matt was in these pictures to document his big day. Oh well. Suffice to say, the girls are very lucky to have such an amazing daddy!! 

Last Day of School

Now that we're fully immersed in summer activities, I suppose I should mention that the girls are 

not in school anymore! The last week of school was highly anticipated in this house, maybe more so by me than anyone. It sure is nice to not worry about cleaning uniforms, doing hair, or rummaging through backpacks. (I'll add that Matt is probably glad to not be packing lunches anymore either, since he has been the lunch guy for most of this year. Is he a great dad or what?!)

I took these pictures on the second to last day of school, and gave myself a little pat on the back for remembering to do this since the last day of school was a free dress day. I can't exactly document the last day of school without uniforms, now can I?

The last day involved a school-wide mass with the kindergarten class performing up on the altar, which is pretty much the cutest thing ever.

After the ceremony, each of the girls thanked their teacher and said their good-byes. Megan's teacher, Miss Stelling, was extra sweet when she said she wanted a signed copy of the photo, since Megan is sure to be a published author someday. (As passionate as Megan is about reading, I'm not sure how a writing occupation will jive with her lofty goal of being a waitress when she grows up!) Megan was lucky to have Miss Stelling two years in a row, and she benefited so much from that continuity.

And Ms. Connolly was just as complimentary about sweet little Bridget, who somehow transforms into a perfect angel at school. She was one of two or three kids in her class who lasted all year without receiving a dreaded "pink note" for undesirable behavior. She was that good. I may need whatever magic Ms. Connolly possesses!

Of course, we needed to get a shot of all five girls together on the last day. Some were happier than others!

I wish I had thought to take more pictures of the girls with their good friends, but I only managed to get a photo of Megan and Niamh just as we were loading into the car. They are very sweet friends!

It's hard to believe this school year passed as quickly as it did! We will have a 2nd grader and a new 1st grader before we know it. And preschoolers!! As this year wraps up, I am so so so glad that the twins did not go to preschool this past year. I felt a bit self-conscious of this decision at the beginning of the year, since we were going against the grain and electing to "limit" Tessa and Annie to only one year of preschool before they entered kindergarten. But, I couldn't be happier with all of that time I got with them, and how special their carefree mornings were together (and with Mary, of course!). Yes, they may go into this coming (one and only, god forbid!) preschool year a little more shy, but I truly believe we saved ourselves a lot of needless stress (and money!) and gained a whole extra year with our little munchkins at home!

Family Hoops

Since the girls are so mesmerized with the game of basketball, we decided to fully suburbanize our house with the addition of a basketball hoop. In case anyone misses the shrieks and screams emanating from our house 24/7, now there is no question that kids live here. We have an adjustable hoop that easily lowers to the right height for Megan to practice her shots, and for Bridget to think about shooting non-granny style. We're still waiting on some upper body strength for that last one ;)

Megan and Bridget feel like pretty big girls, playing out front without Mommy or Daddy. Tessa and Annie aren't as happy with this arrangement, as evidenced in the picture below with Annie in the front window, eyeing all of the fun outside. It's so rough being only 4!

I'm thankful for another activity that Megan and Bridget can enjoy together. Bridget needs to feel like a big kid to be happy, so this arrangement is good for building her up and avoiding tantrums, if nothing else. And, who am I kidding? It's also perfect for capturing two cute little uniformed (and half-uniformed) girls nicely playing together!