You Must Be 42 Inches Tall to Ride

Annnnnd the roller coaster took another unexpected sharp turn yesterday.

(And you all thought that things were settled - ha!)

Not two hours after putting The Girl on the bus yesterday, I got a phone call from the school. Another family wanted to switch from full-day kindergarten to half-day and the school wondered if we wanted to switch The Boy.

Would we?!

If you haven't been keeping up with us thus far (and really, you haven't had a fighting chance at our rate of change), we went from both-kids-enrolled-in-School-A to one-kid-each-in-Schools-A-and-B to two-kids-in-School-B-plus-one-of-those-kids-in-half-time-off-site daycare. Clear as mud?

What this now means is that both kids are at the same location all day. Even better, The Husband can stick around at home until the school bus picks them both up at the bus stop down the street, and I leave work early enough to race home and meet them both at the same bus stop down the street.

Both kids, same time, same place. No before-school or after-school care. Transportation to and from school direct from our doorstep. Confirmed enrollment for as long as we choose to maintain it in one of the top schools in the state. A school that automatically feeds into the only middle school and high school with French Immersion options in the cities.

Folks, this means the approaching of nirvana, Shangri-La, and Valhalla all at once here.

We're talkin' 'bout getting off the roller coaster and sinking gratefully into those boats at Tinkertown that go placidly round and round at approximately 0.25 miles per hour and all you have to do is ring that little bell.

Stability. The same school two Septembers in a row. Saying "nice to see you again!" instead of "nice to meet you."

Thank you Jesus. Yeah, we worked pretty hard to get to this point, and jumped through seemingly endless numbers of hoops, but ultimately, against all odds, spaces just happened to open up right before school started and credit must be given where it is due.

Speaking of right before school started, the last minute shift to all-day kindergarten meant that not only did The Boy not have to begin learning one routine only to abandon it for another when a spot opened up mid-year, but it also meant that he started school a day earlier than planned. And so, today's first day of school picture:

My favourite part is his "bus necklace." The sweet babies all get little cards that display their names and their bus numbers (and announce in bright pink to all nearby adults that this is A Child Who Needs Help).

Both kids had a really good day. The Boy has made a friend (another little girl, of course - he loves the ladies) and The Girl seems to have made some relational overtures. The Girl had the opportunity to demonstrate her technological skills by showing the teacher how to make a YouTube video full-screen. (I'm not sure whether to be proud or embarrassed that she knows how to do that, or whether I should ask myself, "why exactly are they watching YouTube videos on the second day of second grade?")

And I, knowing that things look like they might be calming down, also had a good day.

Although, who knows - given our track record, this is simply the point between go-rounds where the roller coaster operator yells, "WHO WANTS TO GO AGAIN?!" and everyone around us has yelled "MEEEEE!!!" and up we go again.

Legs and arms inside the car, ladies and gentlemen.