Independence Day - several parts

We celebrated independence last week!

Ukraine Independence - Wednesday marked the 20th anniversary of Ukraine's Independence.  The city was alive with blue and yellow flags, parades and fireworks.  It was a national holiday - but importantly restaurants & stores were still open!  We completed our back to school shopping in no time flat.  This international school gets it!  No more 40 item school supply list - 2 things per kid....a backpack & inside shoes.  Done & done with a smile!  Zoe was so excited about school she slept with her backpack on the day before it started

Mom Independence - Thursday was the first day of school!  YIPPEE!  The bus arrived a mere 10 minutes late and whisked the kids away in Secret Service style!  The boys promptly claimed the back set while Zoe was assigned the front row with the 5 point harness seats for the 'little kids'.  Luckily she seemed to enjoy the extra attention vs. resent the label.

After 3 months of a lot of quality time with each other and me, the kids all seemed to enjoy being around people their own age.  Quincy had set a pretty low bar on his expectations - as it turned out he thought the kids would not speak English!  (As a kid that does an awful lot of taking, that was an unpleasant assumption.)  Once he realized he COULD talk to his peers, things looked up & he had a great first day.  Xavier came home crying & insisting he would NOT go back to school.  Turns out the afternoon bus monitor enforced the Kindergartners and below must sit in the 'baby seats' up front.  Xavier had set his sights on the back row again and was TRAUMATIZED.  While I claim I am NOT a 'helicopter parent', I was mighty fast to put in a call to the head bus coordinator to put a stop to that!  I chalk it up as keeping the peace (and honestly, Xavier dwarfs the other Kindergartners.....the late birthday with Logan's genes = a kid that 'looks like a 2nd grader' according to his brother Quincy - who is bracing himself to be lapped in size by Xavier someday.  Not justifying my actions - just laying out the facts here)