Week 2 in K-12 World

School Bus
Originally uploaded by nikki.jane

We are at the end of Rosie's second week of Kindergarten and now can answer the question, did it rock our world? Answer: Yes.
Here are the big changes:

• We no longer commute together
B.K. (before kindergarten) We'd all pack up as a family into one car, drop me off at Metro, then Mr. Monkey would take the kids to daycare. We had extra family time together in the car and saved $$ on gas and auto repair bills.
• Mr. Monkey changed his work schedule (AWS, in Gov-speak)
He's leaving the house at 5:30 a.m. now, just as I'm getting up. We exchange a kiss and he doesn't even see the kids in the morning before he's out the door. He picks up Dash and is home by 4:30 p.m. We roughly see each other (awake) between 6 and 8 p.m. on weekdays now.
• Grandma Sheila takes Rosie to and from the bus
My mom is a saint. She's been arriving at my house at 6:30 a.m. so I can get Dash to daycare and on to work, then feeds Rosie breakfast, helps her dress, get her things ready for school, and takes her to the bus stop (with fewest dogs). In the afternoon, she retrieves Rosie from the stop and they wait at home for Mr. Monkey to show up. She's actually even done a bit of housework for me, and I'm just beside myself in my good luck here.
• I'm clocking a lot more Beltway time
I've gone from being a passenger in the family car and Metro rider to being a solo driver in my work commute. I tried using public transit once last week, but I was an hour late getting to work and then an hour and a half late getting home. I missed dinner and just arrived in time to get the kids in bed. That was on a clear day with no delays, so I don't see it getting easier. Our fuel budget is wrecked. Question: I need to let my auto insurance know this, right? And they will increase my premium? Aieeee!
• I'm teleworking, but just once a week
I've teleworked twice in the past two weeks and it really worked well! The first week I actually went for a mid-day run. I'm about to submit an application to make it a more formal deal with two days a week (mostly because everything about my previous bullet bites).
• Dash is starting to get jealous
Dash sees Rosie getting all the Grandma-time and Grandma shopping for her school supplies (the school will keep asking for more, all year round, right?) and asks, "What did you get for me, Grandma?" He actually insisted that my mom give him what she was eating this morning, because he HAD to get something, anything from Grandma.
• We're learning a bit more about Rosie's day
Rosie is not much of a talker and her preschool teachers seemed limited to "she had a good/bad day" in their feedback to us much of the time. We are now hearing a little more (still not much) about things like the playground, the library, her letter-B project, and her music class. I'm certain she's been doing well on the whole, based on her own abilities, but she prefers not to give narration on her day.

I'll put up more updates, as things progress!