Catching Up, Starting Out

Ended a long stressful day in just the right way... Stopped by to visit for an hour with my beautiful friend Claudia and her lovely pup.

I haven't seen them all summer - for actually about 7 weeks now, since our vacation schedules seemed to alternate and we were never in town at the same time. It was really great to catch up quickly - wish we'd had about 3 more hours to chat! But it was already late when I dropped in after dinner and errands, and tomorrow is a big day for the kids, since school resumes here in NRW.

For our 10-year old boys, that means a huge change. They start in fifth grade tomorrow with the big kids in the secondary school system that goes through 12th grade. The school and class size are both substantially larger, with increased expectations of independence, tougher academic challenges, and more complexity overall. Claudia's son is quite relaxed about it. My son, however, is very apprehensive. And that makes me nervous for him. It would be much easier if he were eagerly looking forward to it - but he's dreading the transition. So keep your fingers crossed all goes well. I'll update tomorrow on how the first day back this year went for both my sons (The 14-year old hasn't got much changing this year in 9th grade).

My second daughter is loving her new school. She's only been for three days, but comes home happy and excited every day. A great start :)

My oldest daughter is still in Scotland on her Uni-tour. Today she reports that she was very impressed with University of Strathclyde. She may even prefer it over Edinburgh. I'm not clear yet why. Tomorrow she tours University of Glasgow - then she'll be home on Thursday. I look forward to hearing a full review of the schools!