So far in Kindergarten, I have learned...

• Worrying about our schedule was unnecessary.  As I promised to every single person who felt the need to tell me that my unorthodox schedule for my kids would wreck us in kindergarten, it only took 2 days.  Maddox plays so hard that he is dragging by 7:00.  Dinner, baths, books, teeth brushing, a recorded episode of The Voice, and he is more than ready to lie down at 8:00.  The only down-side:  I still work my old schedule-- but have to be up for his new one.  This night owl who rarely went to bed before 12:30 is counting down those 2 last hours of call every night.  And those babies who slept past 9:00 every morning are up and at it by 7:00 now... even on the weekends.
• Everything is exciting!  And I mean everything.  The first trip to the library is equivalent to seeing the Mona Lisa.  Earning a panther paw for a drawing that he is extremely unlikely to win is like hitting the Powerball.  The letter of the week, a new kid in class, being the line leader or one to do the weather, getting chosen in PE to demonstrate the new game (even if it is because"Wyatt" --whom I have never heard of before this conversation-- was absent that day) and now having two options to choose for lunch (even though he brings his lunch 90% of his life) are all super- crazy- amazingly- awesome and exciting!  As soon as he gets in the car each day, he can not stop talking about his day-- and then we call Lance to tell it all over again-- and when he runs out of things to tell us, he goes back to the same question, "do you want me to list the people in my class?".
• Girls are already a problem.  Of course I mean that funny--  But I had no idea that the boy who would turn so red and cover his eyes if he saw something on tv that might lead to a kiss, only 2 months ago... would sit in my back seat and have a full conversation about who likes who, and who tried to kiss who, and who thinks who is hot, with his little pal Brittan.   I pretended that I couldn't hear them, of course-- and had a moment of self-actualization when I recalled sitting in a backseat, assuming my mom couldn't hear-- spilling info myself.  
• Handwriting doesn't come easy to everyone.  Sometimes it blows my mind that this kid that I thought could skip to Junior High if he wanted to, struggles so much with his writing and coloring.  He tries though, and is slowly getting better.
• A little about everyone in his class, their family, which table they sit at, who they sit by and where they sat before Mrs T moved them.  We also know all of Mrs T's facial expressions as sometimes when Maddox tells us a story, and we ask, "then what did Mrs T say?" Maddox just answers with an expression!
• Heart ache doesn't have an age limit.  It is no longer a secret that my brother took a job offer and is moving.  It is also not a secret that one of the main reasons we moved here was so that Maddox and Gunner could grow up side-by-side.  With that said, I am completely excited for them and proud of them for taking a leap out of their comfort zone to better their family.  Once my niece and nephew had been told, we started easing the news onto Maddox.  Gunner and Maddox play together every single day and are each others' best friend.  Just ask them.  Every time we would talk about it, Maddox would sound mostly non-bothered and occasionally excited.  I finally asked him point blank, "how do you feel about Gunner moving?"  He said, "Good.  If Gunner is happy then I am happy."  He skipped out of the room with his Lego's and then cautiously walked back in, "they're just moving houses right?  We will still go to school together..."  I am pretty sure I heard his baby heart break, when he realized that they weren't.  He cried and cried and thrashed his body around like a broken hearted teenage girl.  I cried, and my brother said that Gunner had a similar reaction to leaving Maddox.  Apparently Gunner asked him what he thought about it the next day and Maddox said, "I just had to cry my eyes out."  They hugged, and went back to playing.
• He's still tiny.  Just two months ago, I saw this kid as big.  I treated him big, I expected from him as if he was bigger, and I can even admit that he annoyed me through some of his days because I had no more to offer him-- I felt.  Flash forward, I see this baby.  Maybe it is because I miss him when he is gone, maybe it is because it is because they are the tiny ones on campus.  Maybe it is that excitement that I first mentioned-- that glow that he gives the tiniest things, or the way he grabs Mrs. T's hand to cross the road without worry of that being a "baby thing", or the kiss he gives me and then B every morning without caring that others will see.  I keep making him promise to always be my baby but he says that just isn't right for teenagers, so my days are getting shorter.
• I'm doing an okay job, even when I am certain that I am not.  There are days that our morning sucks or he and B can't get out the door.  Just this week, I was having to get on to him as we were getting out for school for the 5th time that morning.  Normally I say, "make it the best day yet." but that particular morning I said, "you better turn this day around Maddox.  If you keep this up, you're going to have an awful day."  I regretted saying that all day but hoped he didn't take it to heart.  That afternoon when I picked him up, he said, "I had the best day ever!  I kept thinking about what you said and I chose to turn it around.  I guess they noticed because I finally earned a panther paw!"  
• Beckham is funny.  I only blame kindergarten for learning this little fact, because Beckham has never had problem being in Maddox's shadow.  B likes the shadow, because he truly runs the ship from there, but just uses Maddox to do it.  Without Maddox here during the day, I feel like I am getting to know Beckham better than I ever have.  He is still quiet, stubborn, easily entertained by solo-play, loves anything mechanical but is seriously funny.  I will never ever regret my decision to wait on MDO.  My favorite thing Beckham says right now is, "don't mind if I do", when asked if he wants anything!
• the school year flies by.  I know that's silly to say, only one 6-weeks in.  But with birthday parties, and zoo dates, and work, and TCU games and the upcoming holidays-- we have yet to have a weekend at home.  We are already in October, then Thanksgiving, and Christmas.  So technically, in just a few short weeks, this first semester is over.  And I can't have a first grader. 
• the days are getting shorter.  I have a list of things that are never done.
• that everything will be okay.  And when it feels like it won't-- I am thankful for genuine friendships that take no work, full of honest advice and support, from gals who have been through it all before.