Hannah had her first day of school this week. She was thinking before Christmas that she might want to explore the possibility of going to school. Since then, she all but talked herself out of it, but had talked about shadowing a friend at the Catholic school. She decided to go through with it mostly because the principal, teachers and her friend were enthusiastic about it. I was all for it-even though my preference wouldn’t be for her to go to middle school. I think 7th and 8th grades are particularly challenging for girls. I’d love if she did high school at home but understand if she felt like she wanted spontaneous interaction with kids her age. I also think it’s easier to participate in extracurriculars when you’re in school. Not that it’s impossible but I think there might be a barrier to her fitting in completely even if she played a sport at the school or did some other activity. But it’s worth exploring if she’s inclined.

She had a nice day. The teachers and kids were all nice. She knows a lot of kids who go there. Since we go to church there, she sees lots of the kids and a lot of kids in our neighborhood go there. She was wiped out at the end of the day and had a lot to tell. All good. In spite of all of that, she’s still sure she doesn’t want to go next year.

She did look so cute walking up the driveway with all the kids. They surrounded her in a nice way and welcomed her wholeheartedly. It would be great if she could go 1 or 2 days a week or some other part-time situation. I’m sure the principle would be happy to have the tuition.

She felt completely up to speed and on par with her peers in all the subjects even though she didn’t know ahead of time what they were studying. I felt good about that.

I was happy that she was able to have the experience. It was a good day, but I was glad to have her home again.