Back To School

Back to school life in Costa Rica.  Yes, it's me.  Hello!  I have made a new year promise to myself to blog more and so as of today, I will be trying to write a new blogpost once a week... I have it written in my new planner (which I am loving) to keep me accountable.  So far, so good.  This is post numero uno of that new year promise.  So le'go!!!

The kids started a new school year about 2 weeks ago.  In Costa Rica, the typical school year runs from he start of February to around the end of November, first week or so in December for most schools.  If you have the dough and can afford to send your kid to an American style private school, then the year runs about the same as schools in the states, generally from August to May.

Anyway, for my kids, they follow the Costa Rican school year calendar, which means we were in full back to school prep mode at the end of January.  I went through and got rid of all non-essential paper work from the previous year, organized and re-did their "school" section in the all purpose room and set up a system for backpack storage. Then there was a lot of shopping.  A LOT of shopping.  Getting all of their supplies (which, as of today, I have all of their school supplies...YAY!!!)  And labeling EVERYTHING!

The particular school that my kids attend did not give us a school supply list at the end of the school year last year, so I did very little shopping before hand.  Book bags, lunch bags and a few basic essentials were purchased before the kids actually went back to school but the majority of their school supply needs were purchase once they actually started school and got the list from their respective teachers:  my daughter is in grade 3 and my son is in grade 2... my older son is currently in grade 8, taking  the 3 classes he needs to go on to 9th grade (that is a whole other story).

So there you have it.  A new year, a new school year and new challenges ahead.  I do worry for my 2nd grader.  This year will be his first time taking exams and I know it will be a struggle for him.  I do pray!  I may have to hire a tutor though as he is very similar to his older brother but a little less advanced. My daughter, as usual, is excelling.  So no worries there... yet.  I just hope I don't get too overwhelmed. I tell you, this having multiple kids in school at the same time "thing" is still definitely an adjustment.  Gone are the days of just ONE  parent/teacher meeting.  Or having to attend one event for the one kid.  It is multiple meetings, multiple events.  Everything times 2.  And soon, as little man grows up, it will be three.  Lord help me!

I am excited though, for this new year.  It's a chance for me to do things even better than I did them last year... it's always like a do-over, every new year, right?  So I look forward to the new year ahead, the new and exciting challenges, the new events and the fun that is sure to come.  I also expect tough times and difficult decisions to be made.  I expect the stress that comes with having kids in school.  But I do pray I can handle it with grace.  We shall see.  Until next time....ciao!