I have a 7-year-old

Wow, how did that happen? She is getting so grown up. She's so beautiful, too. How did I get such a special kid?
Genevieve was lucky enough to have Field Day at school on her birthday. And I was lucky enough to get the chance to tag along. What fun! Here are a couple of the events.

Genevieve's class lost every event. But these days the schools try really hard to play down the importance of winning. It's kind of weird, because every event was a competition and they were encouraged to try to win, but then they were told it doesn't matter. The tug-of-war was the really big event of the day, and they probably lost because the biggest, strongest kid in the class was out sick. One of the other big boys started crying when they lost. It made me remember how young they still are after all.

As part of the birthday celebrations we brought in a book to donate to the class. I was expecting that I or the teacher would read it to the class, but Genevieve surprised both of us by declaring that she was going to do it herself. The teachers all say that she keeps everyone in line and that all her peers listen to her. It was so cute to see her sitting up there in front of the class, and to see how she really did command respect from everyone. I was so proud of her for being able to read that book by herself. She's come a long way this year. She's really turning into a reader now...she tries to read everything she sees (signs, labels, etc.) and she doesn't get frustrated like she used to.

At home we had a mini-celebration with a cake from Stone Cold Creamery. Yum! The party with her friends was on Saturday...I'll post about that next time.

First Grade!

Well, my little girl is officially a first grader now.

There was a little confusion about the bus this morning. It came on the wrong side of the street. But that means she gets to wait with the girl from across the street, so that will be fun. Also, it turns out that many of her old friends are on the same bus.
Genevieve seemed very happy when I picked her up. The Y after-school program seemed good. She said "everyone is so friendly here!" I asked her what they did in school today. "So many things I can't even remember them... We had free choice time! And snack!" During "star time" she found a book with a picture of a hamster who looks "just like" Prince. Music was apparently her favorite activity. That's not surprising considering she loved it last year, and these days she goes around singing constantly. I am hopeful that it's going to be a good year!