"Oh, Mommy, can I just go to just one day of Kindergarten?" Jude asks.

"And then you'll stay with me for the rest of the year?"

"Weeeeeeeelll, you know, I am I big boy now."

Yes, he is. Thank goodness I still have the twins at home with me. Otherwise, the very sight of this would make me a sniveling mess of tears:

I'm not the mom who rejoices at the beginning of the school year. I'm the one who cries all the way home after dropping her kids off.

I'm forcing myself to look on the bright side: James needs the structure and discipline of his challenging GATE class, Jewel will make new (hopefully, better) friends at her new school, and Jude will be...a big boy.

ACK! I'm still going to cry on the first day of school.