Back to School

School Days
I am much too busy…or maybe I am just getting older. When the notice came that school pictures were upcoming, I dutifully sent in my order with a check. I even gave myself several mental reminders and posted the notice on the fridge. However, when picture day arrived, I remembered that it was egg and toast Wednesday, but I completely forgot about pictures. Sadly. That. Means. That. My. Kids. Chose. Their. Own. Outfits. And. No. Special. Attention. Was. Given. For. Hairdos. (or don’ts). Oh well, c’est la vie. I am just grateful they turned out as well as they did. Kayla has started giving us small coy smiles lately—see below. Ella was luckily wearing jeans and not the sweatpants that she shows a strong preference for wearing. Dessie asked me to take her picture too. She is showcasing her first ponytail (made possible with a lot of bobby pins and mousse.) She definitely has a lot of sass and attitude lately.

In the month of January, we decided as a family to send the girls to school without their iPads. We felt like we could use a cleanse from technology. Stephen and I felt like we were in control of the technology in the home, but saw reasons to be concerned about its use at school. For instance, Ella was always very anxious to get to school on time or extra early so that she could pull out her iPad and play games. We also learned that the iPads were allowed during indoor recess time. We felt like this was time that could have been better spent developing friendships and playing creatively together. At first, both of our girls were very disappointed by our declaration. However, we soon saw some important changes. Ella began to look forward to recess time where she and a friend would play games with little erasers and repurposed Kleenex boxes. Plus, I began to see pages and pages of comics come home in her backpack. I was thrilled to see that Kayla was writing more often too. The girls are much less attached to the iPads and have learned that imagination is often more fun! Lesson learned.