Back to School

Both kids are safely ensconced back at elementary school again. It's hard to fathom that this is Robbie's last year here. Next year he'll be busing down the road to middle school.

Aaron's teacher is who we thought it was - the same teacher Robbie had for second grade. He was scared when we went in Wed. morning, but recognized her as soon as she came over to say hello, and relaxed immediately. His best friend Ashley has moved (fortunately only one town over), so he was also nervous about who his classmates were, but there are at least two kids in there he knows, and several who are new to the school altogether, so that makes him happy. I was a little surprised by his thinking in being happy about new kids in his class, but his explanation is that new kids don't come in with friends already made, so they're more likely to be open to being friends with him. Logical enough, I suppose!

I'm having a horrible time remembering Robbie's teacher's name. Every time I think I've got it down, I ask Robbie and it's wrong. It's long, ethnic (though not as distinctively ethnic as I keep thinking), and begins with an H. I'll get it eventually. There are half-a-dozen kids Robbie knows in there, and at least a couple he likes, including the little girl who lives behind us. He seems to like his teacher, which is great. We get to go in next week for a meet-the-teachers evening, and I'm looking forward to it.

Robbie's also decided he wants to try out for the track team. This is surprising, since he's never shown any interest in any kind of sports before. He's already practicing, doing several wind sprints on our way home from school. He wants me to start timing him as he goes. Also surprisingly, this seem to have nothing to do with the Olympics, though he's now planning on watching the track-and-field events next week, which he hadn't particularly thought about before.

I'm running very short on sleep these days, due to the aforementioned Olympics. The swimming has been fantastic, of course, but I've been paying most attention to the gymnastics and the equestrian events. Rob, who really doesn't give squat about any of it, has been very good about letting me watch without griping about how it all doesn't really mean anything anyway, or how I should really give up and go to sleep. I have been discussing the gymnastics with my friendL in Massachusetts though, to avoid making him repeatedly discuss stuff he doesn't care about. For myself, I grew up listening to Dad (who was a college gymnast, and quite good) commenting on the gymnastics, and as with most things, the more you know, the more interesting they are. I never got very far with gymnastics myself (too big, not enough explosive power), but did enough to appreciate just how darned tough those routines are. The injury rates on elite gymnasts are horrific (I believe 93% have either broken a bone, or had a soft-tissue injury severe enough to require surgery.), and their toughness and dedication to their sport is truly awesome.

So I guess I'll be losing sleep for at least a few more days.