The First Day of School - Going Back in Person!

Last week, on Tuesday, September 8th, our kids headed back to school in person! If you read this post, you know the decision to send them was practically impossible to make, but we decided to give it a try. We are almost two weeks in, and so far so good. My kids were so excited to go back, and they actually enjoy going to school each day!

This year, we had two big changes. Dylan decided to go back to public school instead of continuing with cyber school. He missed high school a lot more than he expected he would! This is the first year that Lily and Liam are in the same building, and it won't happen again until Lily is in 11th grade and Liam is in 9th grade. Lily is so excited to be in the same school as her baby brother!

We're nearing the end of week two, and we're finally getting into a routine. It was a big adjustment after being home almost 24/7. I don't think any of us will ever take school for granted again. Dylan, Lexie, and Lily said it isn't even that bad wearing a mask all day. I think they're just really happy to get that small bit of normal back into their lives! (I absolutely agree!)

Teaching Little Learners One Book At A Time

I received these books for free from Moms Meet for my honest review. Compensation for this post was provided, and this post may contain affiliate links.

Coen has been in quarantine for 1/3 of his life. ONE THIRD. There are so many valuable learning experiences he missed out on over the past 6 months, like visits to the library, having hands-on experiences at museums, exploring favorite spots in our city, and discovering animals at the zoo. One thing he did not miss out on, however, was reading. At 17 months old, Coen absolutely loves books, and happily flips through books every single day!

During those 6 months of social distancing, Coen flipped through every children's book in our house (and we have a lot) from cover to cover. We read to him multiple times a day, but lately, it seemed like it was the same books on repeat. We also had to remove some books from his collection, because he was ripping the pages. It was time to update his bookshelf with some sturdy board books that would pique his interest!

The Priddy Books Early Learning Collection arrived at the perfect time! Priddy Books, who is currently celebrating their 20th anniversary, publishes unique books for babies, toddlers, and young children that help boost their development. We already own quite a few beloved titles from their Alphaprints series, Touch and Feel Series, and See Touch Feel series, so we were excited to add some new favorites to our collection!

The Impossible Back To School Decision

2020 was a year of firsts for so many of us. It was a year full of making impossible decisions, and doing things we never imagined we would have to do. Like most parents, the back to school decision weighed heavily on our minds for so many months. Do we send our kids back to school, do we opt for virtual learning, do we enroll all of our kids in cyber school, or do we just start homeschooling?

It was truly an impossible decision to make. We weighed the pros and cons of every choice we were offered, and nothing seemed right. We changed our minds multiple times, and didn't really confirm our decision until a few weeks ago. The 2020-2021 school year is going to be even stranger than this past school year, but the impossible decision has been made. 

On Tuesday, our four older kids are going to be starting school in person, five days a week. It was not a decision that we made lightly, considering we have a child who has extra needs. We plan to reassess our decision at the end of each week, and we fully expect more curveballs to be thrown at us over the next 9 months. All we can do is mask up, continuously remind our crew of proper hygience during a pandemic, stop second guessing our decision, and prepare to face every possibility throughout the school year!