August 23, 2016
Taylor's POV:
Today is a very special day for the twins. It's their first day of first grade and their first ever day of school. I'm very excited and proud of them. We had a lot of family conversations about them attending school this year and we decided that we have enough of a handle on their medical conditions to make it possible.
Their anxiety and PTSD are triggered by things at home specifically. Their eating disorder basically comes down to them not finishing full meals often or at all. And their concussions affect their focus and present like ADHD. I know that their teacher knows how to handle children with ADHD so I'm not too worried.
Archer and Lexie themselves are both excited and nervous. They're excited to finally have something normal happen in their lives but they're nervous about starting school because they've never done it before. Joe and I have been telling them about how much fun first grade is because they play a lot of games and will make a lot of friends and the twins eventually caved in and said that they should have fun.
Joe and I also told them that if they truly don't like school after this week, we can homeschool them this year and they can maybe try again next year, and if they don't want to try again and just be homeschooled, we can do that too.
Over the summer, a rule was established with the twins that they should try everything once. That means school, sports, food, experiences, etc. If they don't like it after the first time, they don't have to do it. Archer and Lexie agreed that that rule was more than fair so I'm glad they're on board.
I walk into the twins' room and wake them up at 6:30 since for some reason, they're still asleep. "Rise and shine, cuties! You've got your first day of school today!" I say. The twins roll over on their stomachs in their beds.
I walk over to Lexie's bed and rub her back. "Hey Lex, you've gotta get up, honey. School starts in two hours and God knows you and Archer take a year to get ready," I say softly. "I'm tireddddd," says Lexie. "I know, honey but you've gotta get up. I promise you'll feel better once you're up. Getting up is always the hardest part," I say. She rolls over on her back and I kiss her forehead. "Do I have to tickle you?" I ask. "No!" says Lexie. She sits up and hugs me. "That's my girl," I say. "You wanna double-check the outfit that we laid out for you last night while I wake up Archer?" I ask. "Yeah!" says Lexie. I point to her desk chair and she walks over there.
I move to Archer's bed and sit on it. "Alright buddy, it's time to get up. Lexie is already up and rearing to go," I say. "Need. More. Sleep," says Archer. Don't we all? "Arch, you've got five seconds before I do one of two things. Pour freezing water all over you or tickle you. Pick your poison," I say. "I'M UP! I'M UP!" shouts Archer, sitting upright. "That's what I thought," I say. My brother hugs me and I have him double-check his outfit too.
Both twins approve and I say "Do you want to take a shower or a bath this morning or just get dressed and do bath time at night instead?" "Morning!" says Lexie. "Night!" says Archer. I knew it. Lexie is like me and she says that showering in the mornings wake her up and Archer says that they relax him too much so it's better at night to get him tired.
I get Archer dressed in his favorite shirt with dinosaurs on it and his favorite set of cargo pants. I know it's August but my twins prefer wearing pants and besides, they're very active so they'll get more bruises and scrapes if they're in shorts. They've already proved that fact to Joe and me over the summer.
"Arch, Joe is downstairs making breakfast which will be ready by the time Lexie is ready to go, so how about you play in here for a while," I say. "YAY!" cheers Archer. "You know for someone who didn't want to wake up, you have a lot of energy," I say. He shrugs and grabs his dinosaurs and begins playing.
I hold Lexie's hand and lead her into the Jack and Jill bathroom where she and Archer take their baths and I set the water for a shower rather than a bath. Ever since the pool accident in Rhode Island, Lexie hasn't wanted anything to do with a bath even if Archer wants to take one with her.
Once Lexie's dressed in her favorite unicorn shirt with tie-dye pants, we walk back into her room and I say to Archer, "Chow time. Let's go!" He reluctantly drops his dinosaurs and walks downstairs with Lexie and me.
They barely touch their food even though it's their favorite pancakes. And I'm talking even less than normal. "You two okay?" I ask. "Just nervous," says Lexie as she picks at one of her watermelon cubes before she eats it. "I'm not! It'll be fun!" says Archer, stabbing a chunk of cantaloupe and eating it. "Is that so?" I ask raising an eyebrow at my youngest brother. If I recall correctly, last night he was panicking about today as I was tucking him and Lexie in.
Lexie nudges him in the ribs. I know that she knows better than anyone that what he just said isn't really how he feels. "Okay so maybe I'm a little nervous," says Archer sheepishly. I smile at him.
It's almost time for the kids to walk out the door for school and one of the moments I've been most looking forward to has arrived. Pictures.
The twins put their backpacks on and stand in various places around the house as Joe and I take a lot of pictures of them. They're so cute!
We drive to the kids' school and they hold hands for the whole drive. It's so touching. I notice that Lexie tenses as we pull up to the school. Since Joe is the one driving and I'm not, I reach my hand back and she grabs it immediately with her hand that isn't holding her twin's.
"You're going to be okay. Both of you are. You're so brave for doing this. And you're both smart, funny, kind, caring, loyal, great at athletics, and polite. Who wouldn't want to be your friends? You've got this. But if it's too much at any point in the day, you know that you can always have the teacher call Joe or me and that we'll be here as fast as we can. But if you can manage to stick it out for the whole day, that would be great for you both. No matter what, Joe and I are so proud of you and we can't wait to hear all about your day," I say, looking at the twins.
"Okay," says Lexie. "Alright! Let's do this! Come on Lexie!" says Archer. My sister gives me a look that says "Is this boy for real right now?" I wink at her.
They get out of the car and stand on the curb holding hands, staring at the front gates. They take a deep breath, look back at our car that's still right behind them, and walk toward the gates, and soon enough, they're on the other side of them.
As Joe and I drive away, I get a pit in my stomach. Did we make the right decision sending them to school this year? What if they hate it? What if they have one of the worst days of their lives? And that will be saying something. I bite my lip nervously and look out my window on the right.
"You okay, darling?" asks Joe, looking at me as we come to a stop at a red light. "What if we made a bad call sending them to school?" I ask worriedly. "Taylor, the twins need to go to school one way or another. Starting in first grade is as good a place as any. It will be much harder if they started next year. The kids will question them about why they didn't start in first grade," says Joe. "I guess you're right," I say.
We get home and I realize how boring my day is about to become. And sure, I love songwriting and recording, but all of that is so much better with the twins around.
At school,
3rd Person POV:
Archer and Lexie walk through the gates and stop on the other side. They stare at the school grounds with the multiple buildings in awe and Lexie says "We're on our own now." "We technically always have been until Taylor and Joe," says Archer. "I know but. It just feels different this time," says Lexie. There's a silent pause before Archer says "I feel it too."
They walk to the building that their classroom is in toward the very front of the campus and they find a door with their teacher's name on it.
Taylor and Joe had taken the twins to the back-to-school night to meet their teacher earlier this month so they know where their classroom is. Their desks were already assigned that night so all the twins have to do is go sit at theirs and start unloading their school supplies since they know where it is.
The decorations in the classroom look like they're straight from Pinterest. Cute signs and things adorn all of the walls in the classroom. Some are labeled as though the kids will eventually hang things under them. Other things are learning related things like the alphabet and numbers 1-100.
The room is separated into 5 table groups. Four kids sit at each one. That adds up to 20 students in the class. The tables are staggered where there are two in the front row and three in the back row but they're not directly behind each other. The three in the back row are on either side of the first two tables.
1 2
3 4 5
Archer and Lexie are sitting directly next to each other at table number 4, directly in the center of the classroom and the center of the arrangement of tables. Each desk is individually numbered. Lexie is 13 and Archer is 14. The twins share a laugh that Lexie got number 13 of all things since they both are more than aware that 13 is Taylor's lucky number and she mentions it all the time.
Lexie's desk is on the left of her brother, closer to the front of the classroom where the teacher sits and where the big whiteboard is. Archer's desk is on the right of his sister, closer to the back of the classroom where the door is, and a round work table that appears to be capable of seating five people at once.
On the side wall behind Archer and Lexie close to the door is a long row of cubbies. But they're more like lockers without doors, to be honest.
Each kid is assigned one and they all have each kid's name inside with a huge label and their seat number is on a sticker inside of it as well. Once the twins finished unloading their notebooks and other school supplies into their desks, they hang their backpacks in their designated cubbies and take their lunch boxes out of their bags, and put them in the top slot as a few other kids had already done.
Shortly after Archer and Lexie sat back down at their desks, two other kids join the twins at their table group. A girl sits across from Lexie and a boy sits across from Archer. "Hi! I'm Edin! What are your names?" the other girl asks. "Archer!" exclaims Archer. "Chase!" the other boy says with as much energy as Archer. "What's your name?" Edin asks, pointing directly across from her at Lexie. Archer nudges her and Lexie snaps out of her daydream and says "Lexie." "Nice to meet you all!" says Edin.
The first thing besides physical features that Lexie notices about Edin is how much energy she has. She sounds like Archer with that level of intensity.
Class begins at 8:30 and the teacher, Ms. Kalberg, stands at the front of the room and introduces herself, saying a few things about herself. When she finishes, she says "Now it's your turn. When I call on you, I want you to introduce yourself. I want you to say your first and last name, your favorite color, and animal, maybe a cool fact about yourself besides that, annnd something fun you did this summer." The class nods.
Lexie had counted the things to say on her fingers. Five things. Full name, favorite color, favorite animal, cool fact, something that happened over the summer. That's it. But yet Lexie wonders why she's so scared to do it.
Archer didn't appear to be paying attention. Ms. Kalberg taps the desk of a student at table number one and says "You ready?" "YEAH!" they cheer and then they stand up. Lexie wonders to herself why this class has to be so loud. It's not even 9:00 AM.
"Hi! My name is Quinn Hart. My favorite color is purple and my favorite animal is a dog. A fact about me is that I have two sisters, one is older and one is younger. Something I did over the summer was I went back to Ohio where I used to live until May to visit some friends," says the girl with dirty blonde hair, the color of Taylor's.
Lexie's hair is brighter blonde than that, and as she looks around the room, she begins to feel like she sticks out like a sore thumb until her eyes land on the only redhead in the room, a girl at table 2.
Quinn sits down and Lexie zones out until she sees the redhead from the next table stand up. "Hi, I'm Scarlett Lennon. My favorite color is yellow and my favorite animal is a dolphin. Something about me is that I have an older brother and a tabby cat named Ginger. This summer, I turned six and went to Disneyland on my birthday," says the girl. To Lexie, Scarlett is a breath of fresh air from the other kids who are bouncing with energy.
A boy named Griffin Bennet stands up and introduces himself. He has an older sister, a younger brother, and a younger sister and he loves a lot of sports but most importantly soccer. Lions are his favorite animal and the mascot of his soccer team. He caught the attention of Archer, who is already making a mental note to ask Griffin if he wants to play soccer with him at recess. Assuming that Lexie is all squared away first that is.
Another boy whose name is Finn Monteith takes his turn. He likes flag football, basketball, soccer, baseball, and basically all sports. His favorite animal is a bull shark. His older brother plays Pop Warner football and he wants to do the same.
It's Lexie's turn now. She looks at Archer for approval before standing up. "Hi, my name is Lexie Swift. My favorite color is any shade of lighter blue like the ocean that surrounds a tropical island. My favorite animal is a unicorn, but some people say that that's not a real animal so my favorite real animal is a fox. A fact about me is that I have a twin brother who you're gonna meet after me and that I have the best big sister in the world. This summer, on my brother and I's sixth birthday we went to Luna Park at Coney Island," says Lexie. She sits down blushing after she realized how much she rambled.
Despite never attending school before, Lexie is naturally academically gifted and even though she's six, she has the vocabulary of someone a few grades ahead of her. Like a fourth grader. She also has a fourth-grade reading level.
Archer stands up and says, "Hey, I'm Archer Swift. My favorite color changes a lot but right now it's bright orange like a tiger. My favorite animal is a T-Rex, but like my sister said, some people have us pick a real animal and I'm gonna go with a shark as my favorite real animal. A fact about me besides Lexie being my twin is that my sister writes amazing music and has the coolest boyfriend ever. And this summer, my sister and I went to Rhode Island with our family."
Chase goes next. His last name is Revord. He loves black panthers as well as soccer and baseball. He has an older sister and a younger brother.
Edin goes after Chase. Her last name is Daddario. She loves mint green, horses, dance, and gymnastics. Her older sister does cheerleading and Edin says that she might want to do that when she's older.
After everyone introduced themselves, Ms. Kalberg continues class by explaining some of the rules before she starts a quick get-to-know-you icebreaker game. It's people bingo.
Each kid is handed a sheet of paper with a template on it where instead of normal things for bingo, there are things that might apply to a classmate. The kids have to move around the room and talk to other kids. They have to write the other student they spoke with's name to the best of their ability and fill in the whole paper to win.
The pages are passed out and everyone picks a marker out of the bin that's passed around before the clock starts. There's not necessarily a time limit but the game can't go until break which begins at 10:15 and goes till 10:30. It's currently 9:00.
Everyone gets up and moves around. Archer has no trouble walking around and asking people if they could sign off on anything on his paper. Lexie, on the other hand, has a lot of trouble asking people what applies to them. She's not the only one either. A few other kids are standing still in various spots in the room watching the rest of the class complete the given task.
Archer notices that his sister has barely moved two feet away from her desk and he grabs her hand and says "Come on, Lex." Lexie's posture drops a foot as her fingers lace themselves through her brother's. He always knows how to get her to relax and calm down.
A boy named Hunter is the first one to finish half of his page. A girl named Gracie is the first to completely finish her paper. Archer comes in second place to Gracie. Mostly because he had developed a tactic to finish quickly. Archer makes sure that Lexie placed in the top five. In fact, Lexie was fourth, one spot behind Hunter.
During the game, the class became more interested in simply talking to each other rather than talking and getting each other's signatures. Only a few students remained focused and those are the ones who placed in the top five.
Archer and Lexie sit next to each other during snack with the additions of Edin and Chase. The group of four talk their break away. Once they're back in the classroom, Ms. Kalberg has great difficulty getting Archer and Chase to stop talking to each other, leaving Lexie and Edin in fits of laughter.
When lunch rolls around, the twins find themselves not only sitting with each other and their table mates, but also an additional four kids; Scarlett, Quinn, Griffin, and Finn. During recess, the girls dance on the field and play on the playground while the boys play soccer with a lot of the boys in their class plus a few extra.
At one point during his soccer game when he has a moment to catch his breath after passing the ball to Finn who scored a point for their team, Archer stops and looks at Lexie laughing with her new friends as they rave each other on the monkey bars, swinging their bodies and making the dismount to the ground at the end of the row, and can't help but smile to himself. He's proud of her. Especially since she wouldn't leave her desk until he grabbed her hand and made her.
Lexie drops to the ground from the monkey bars and falls to the floor in a tangled mess with Edin and the two girls lie there staring at the sky laughing as Scarlett and Quinn drop and lie down next to them. Lexie turns her head enough so she can catch a glimpse of Archer scoring a goal on the soccer field. She's happy that her twin is happy. Relieved even. Archer always takes care of her and sometimes doesn't get to do much for himself so Lexie is elated that he's playing with other boys and enjoying every second of it.
When recess ends, Archer and Lexie walk with their new friends and the girls skip their way to class laughing as the boys playfully ran into each other, trying to knock the others off course, laughing.
Lexie sits down in her seat and whispers to Archer "Maybe school isn't so bad after all." He smiles at her and adds "I think I kinda like it here." Now it's Lexie's turn to smile.
The rest of the day goes by in a flash and after some happy goodbyes and see you tomorrows, the twins hold hands and run all the way to Taylor's car that's parked right where they were dropped off.
Taylor's POV:
The twins are smiling as they hold hands and run to my car. That's a good sign, right? They jump inside and buckle in. "You survive?" I ask. "Three words," says Archer. "School. Is. AMAZING!" says Lexie. I never would have thought that those words would come from Lexie of all people, but she never ceases to amaze me every day. I'm so glad that they had a great day. I was so worried for them.
"We made six friends and played all recess long and sat with them at lunch and laughed until we couldn't breathe," says Archer. "The work was really easy so I finished early and helped Archer finish quickly too," says Lexie. This is music to my ears. And wait a sec. SIX FRIENDS?!?! That's more than I had in multiple years of school and I'm one person! "What are your friends' names?" I ask. Lexie goes first saying, "Edin, Scarlett, and Quinn." "Chase, Griffin, and Finn," says Archer. I nod.
"Can we go back tomorrow?" the twins ask in unison. "You can go back for the rest of your life," I say with a smile. "YAY!!!" cheers the twins. I laugh and turn on the radio. 22 starts playing and the twins sing along and do various arm motions. I use one hand to film them and my other to drive. I can't wait to show Joe this footage.
Speaking of Joe, he's at home setting up the twins' little "Congrats on surviving your first day of school" presents. We got them a stuffed animal or two each since they seem to always be begging for more no matter where we are, so I guess the more the merrier.
And no, we don't spoil the kids too much and give them something new every day. Since their birthday in June, it's just been for special occasions. Today happens to be one of those days.
We get home and Lexie and Archer drop their bags and jump into Joe's open arms. "Good day?" he asks. "We love school!" says Archer. Joe looks at me and I nod. He raises his eyebrows in surprise at my confirmation and says, "Is that so?" "Yes!" says Lexie. Joe looks shocked. I know he's thinking what I did earlier. Even Lexie is on board.
"You two have homework?" I ask. "What's that?" the twins ask. I guess not. "Never mind. You two hungry or you wanna go play till dinner?" I say. "PLAY!" they say. The twins turn on the spot and run upstairs to their room where two loud shrieks are heard. Clearly they found their presents. An even louder "THANK YOU!" echoes through the house seconds later. "YOU'RE WELCOME!" shouts Joe and I. Then I clutch my throat as it hurt to scream that loud.
The kids look absolutely exhausted from their day at school and as I'm tucking them in, Lexie barely manages to whisper "Fifteen please." before her eyes start to close. Archer isn't even awake for the end of the second chorus. Lexie barely makes it to the bridge of the song. I finish singing the song anyway because I actually love this song. I can barely find the twins heads to kiss them goodnight because they are both sleeping with every single stuffed animal that they possess. Thankfully Joe and I bought them full-size beds so they can fit.
I leave Archer and Lexie's room and walk into mine and lie in bed with Joe. "They had a good day at school," I breathe. "They sure did, darling," says Joe, gently kissing my forehead. We fall asleep cuddling as my wonder what tomorrow will bring for the twins.