Monday the oldest three kids all started back to school. It was a little tough getting up in the morning, since we were all still a little jet-lagged from the trip. In fact, we were so tired, no on woke up until just a few minutes before the bus left. I told everyone I would drive them up, since I wanted to take pictures of Sarah starting first grade anyway. There was time for breakfast and teeth brushing, that way, but we were still rushed enough that everyone forgot their Finken (slippers everyone wears at school). They had to just be in their socks that first day.
Sophie is now a second-year Kindergartner, and since she already knew her teacher and the classroom, I didn't stay with her. I just walked her in, said hello to Frau Kaspar and gave her a kiss goodbye. Nicholas is a big 4th grader, so even though he has a new teacher, and is even in a new building, he didn't need me to go with him. Chris stayed home with Noah and Alexandra, so I was free to accompany Sarah to her first day of real school.
Her teacher, Frau Nicollier, is super nice and all the kids just love her, even the boys. (I think it helps that she's so pretty.) Sarah sits next to a little girl named Desiree, on the side closest to the teacher's desk. She handed out all their school supplies, with their name already written on them, and then had them sit in a little circle in the middle of the classroom. She taught them a cute little song about a mouse that goes to school to learn the alphabet, and how he uses this alphabet to write a letter. "And what is in the letter?" Why, a story about a mouse that goes to school, of course! I was glad to see Sarah singing along with the other kids.
As usual, she was a little quiet and shy in the first moments, but I think she will be back to her usual self soon. There were several new kids she didn't know, plus it was a little intimidating with all those parents standing around. I couldn't stay for the whole morning, unfortunately, as Chris needed to get to work, so I missed the balloons being sent up in the air. Still, she was pretty happy, and I think we have been blessed again with good teachers for our kids.
Since it was so late, I drive Chris all the way into work, then stopped at the Swiss version of Goodwill right next to the train station. Noah was super patient while I spent over 45 minutes looking for tea cups for Sophie's birthday party. I wanted pretty teacups with matching saucers, that were a certain shape. They didn't all have to have matching patterns, but the shape definitely needed to be similar. I found four, and was quite pleased with them. In fact, they are so pretty, I'm not sure I want to let the girls take them home as favors. That was the original idea, but now I think I want to keep them for my own future tea parties! I still need to find three more, but there are a few more Brockenhaus in this area that I can check out before Friday.
Nicholas also started real piano lessons today down in Affoltern. It's a little tricky, since his lessons and Sarah's ballet lessons start at the exact same time in two different cities. I dropped him off early today, but I think we will have him take the bus in the future. It is simply too much driving back and forth for me. And after all, he is almost ten! The kids all came home super happy at lunch time and full of first-day-back-at-school stories. I hope we can keep the positive trend for the remainder of the year.