This is ridiculous... I probably wasn't this nervous when I started school! C. starts her first day of high school tomorrow, in less than 9.5 hours she'll be in a classroom. She's very nervous, of course, and I'm a wreck, of course. I have promised to take pictures of her in the morning - isn't that a first day of school ritual? Are there any other rituals we should know about? I don't remember what we did in my family other than take a picture each year of the three of us kids together on the front porch.

I'm taking two days off work to get the other kids going on their schoolwork (and get them reviewed from last year). That's a huge thing for me ... I never close my store, but I really need a few days off and the first few days of school seem like they'd be really slow anyway. It's great to spend a few extra days at home.

A. has decided he's ready to learn to read and is really excited about it ... so are we! We tried to teach him last year but he just wasn't ready, I can tell from the things he's saying and the questions he's asking that he's in a different frame of mind this year. K. will start a Kindergartenish program mostly using A.'s old books. Our tentative goal with K. is to teach him without having him get ahead of A. Of course, we work at their pace so if he needs to pass A. in schoolwork than he will, but we're definately not encouraging it at this time.

I. and M. aren't ready for school, according to them! Mommy and Daddy think they're quite bored and that some schoolwork will do them good and keep them out of trouble. I have a feeling that M. has matured a lot this summer and will enjoy her schoolwork more this year.

Oh, here's a cute one ... Jason was reading a wine magazine and pointed to a bunch of wooden barrels. "What are these for?" he asked the kids. K. says "gold dust" ... I wish! M says "whale fat, blubber". Um yeah, she's right but where did she get that from? Moby Dick. She found it laying around in her room and read it. This is the girl who won't read Harry Potter because it's too big. Go figure!

9 hours and C. starts high school ...