Update

So, an update, on this day three of life-after-school-started.

Everything is extremely simple.  The school routine, life at home with Hudson, all of it.

The girls (of course) love their new school.  No one is surprised at that-  we've been excited and prepared for it for months.

Hudson doesn't mind being home with me at all- he loves it.  He's feeling very grown up, and loves having the school room, the CD player, the cats, the dogs, the toys, the books, the colored pencils, the paintbrushes, the puzzles, me, and the Wii all to himself.  At his core, he's very sweet and relational- he loves to talk to me all day, about everything, but that's nice- otherwise the house would get a little lonely.  He's never, ever, done anything (besides sleep) alone, and while he does love it when his sisters come home, he really likes this change.

Speaking of after school, I really get excited to pick up the girls and hear all about their day.  They are home by three, and we've got plenty of time to snack, play, read, and etc. before dinnertime at 6:30, so in many ways life doesn't feel that different to them.  They were all amazed at how little actual work they do at school, they're making lots of friends, they all have superstar teachers, and think their packed lunches are the bee's knees (though Patie was impressed that they serve corn dogs at school). 

When sibling conflict is eliminated, parenting becomes a breeze.  Amen?

We now have a LOT of "free space" in our day, since it's just H and me.  So, we are still exploring all that can mean-  everything is just so much simpler when a) I only have one child and b) I'm not in charge of teaching four children anymore.  We have always had tons of time in our day to be creative, to play, etc, but now I've got so much more flexibility in just about everything (running errands, etc) with such a free schedule. 

Today we dropped the girls off, got all of our groceries for the week, came home, and had everything put away by 9 AM.  Now we're spending the morning listening to The Decemberists, making focaccia, finishing some work I needed to do, and also we ate a tangelo.  Next we might go to the park or maybe paint like yesterday, who knows.  It's not bad.