The kids started at their new school, Frankfurt International School – Wiesbaden, on Monday. There was a mixture of emotions by everyone, some excitement, lots of nerves, and a little bit of dread about the thought of not being able to sleep in late every day. We left our house at 7:40 and told the school bus (it’s actually a big van) driver that Ty and Lily wouldn’t be riding in the morning but would ride the bus home after school. Normally it should take about 25 minutes to drive to school – a beautiful drive through the Taunus mountains, but we got caught behind some slow moving vehicles. Apparently there was a farmers strike, and the farmers in the state of Hesse were all meeting in Wiesbaden to protest. It took us about 45 minutes to get to school, but the kids heard that some kids took 2 hours!

We got the car parked, grabbed a visitor badge, and made our way into the school. The kids got checked into the office and were whisked away, with barely enough time to say goodbye. For those of you who don’t know about Lily’s anxiety, she has a pretty severe case that often can cause her to vomit. It’s terrible, it sucks, but she has learned ways to cope and deal with it over the years. Often times if she is already nervous, a weird smell will send her reaching for her puke bags. The school chef was baking fresh bread when we walked in. I thought it smelled delicious, but it was a little strong for Lily’s nervous belly. She just had one little episode, then was completely fine the rest of the school day. 

I stuck around after sending them on their way for the Back to School coffee with other parents at the Bistro. Parents are able to hang out in a little room off the cafeteria until around 10:30 and can come early for pickup around 2:00 to meet with other parents. There is usually a group of Parent Teacher Group parents that are there working on something. I met several parents, all of whom seemed great! The principal had the new parents go to another room for a Welcome to FIS meeting. We started off with introductions. I apologized to everyone for the tractors and reiterated that they are manufactured for feeding the world and not for blocking traffic. I learned some good nuggets of information. One very important fact is that there is no such thing as an “excused absence” from school. So unless they are sick, they MUST be in school. They cannot leave school early for holidays, for example. It is actually illegal, and police have been known to inquire why kids are not at school. The principal said that some families have been stopped in the airport and given a fine for having their kids out of school. 

I didn’t hear from the school or the kids all day, which I took as a positive sign. I was just putting Kaycee’s harness on to walk down to the bus stop around the time I thought they would be getting home, and Ty was walking up to the door. He was all smiles. I asked where Lily was and he said, “She walked down to the bakery.” Kaycee and I walked the short distance to the bakery and she was in there buying two pieces of cake – one for Ty and one for herself – to celebrate their awesome first day. I love how independent she is becoming. She was also all smiles. 

Lily’s favorite part of the day was PE, and maybe being able to microwave ramen noodles for lunch. She was happy to be able to copy Maggie’s German work because she doesn’t know much. :) Ty made a few new friends, and said he is WAY behind the rest of the class in French. Since I forgot to take a picture before school, I made them stand at the door and give me thumbs up/down for how they felt about their first day of school. Looks like it was a success!! 

Lily, Jay and Kaycee walked down to the grocery store to pick up a few things for dinner. They used the granny cart because they had to return some of the bottles for recycling/deposit. Jay had to stay outside with Kaycee so he told Lily to go inside and figure out how to return the bottles, then pick up as much on the shopping list as she could find. Whatever she couldn’t find, they would swap and he would go in and finish. She walked in the store and shouted “Hi Aria!!!!” One of her classmates was there. :) That little smarty pants figured out the bottle return, also. Jay and I were both super impressed. 

So the verdict is in. First day of school was a success!!!