The first week of school is in the books, and I realize I'm taking a chance and I might be jinxing myself, but I gotta say, I am loving it. My kids are so excited and happy to go to school that they are getting up in the morning without me having to employ barbaric techniques, like turning on the lights, or ripping the covers off them, to evict them from their beds. It's not going to last, but I am going to enjoy it while it does.

Even though two out of the three are in new schools, yet again, this year's transitions have been much less traumatic than last year's, and everyone seems to be settling in well. I don't care what the reasons are, but as long as my kids like to go to school, at least half of my battle is won.For A, who has made the jump to middle school, there isn't much he doesn't like. I know the onslaught of homework that is coming in the next few weeks will bring him down a little bit, but in the meantime, there is a host of new after school activities to participate in, a longer lunch time, with OMG TVs in the cafeteria, and the novelty of having his own locker.E is just over the moon about her teacher, and her classroom, and being reunited with her friends. Having spent the summer learning how to read chapter books, she is excited to share her new skills with her teacher and, of course, let's not forget, she's got some new shoes and new hair accessories to try out.G, who is usually the most "roll with the punches" kid, has been my cause for concern this year. Although he knew his previous school was not the right place for him, he was reluctant to leave his close-knit group of friends. Since G is the social butterfly of the family, I knew this was only a temporary problem, but I also know how important his longtime friends are to him. As happy as he was to return to a rigorous curriculum, and as excited as he was that his teacher shares a love of his favorite sport, basketball, I could tell he was a little worried about being "the new kid."His first few days went well, but I could tell he was still a little bit reluctant to embrace his new environment. That all changed when he exploded into the house on the third day and was just bursting at the seams with excitement."Mom, you just won't believe what we get to do in October!" He couldn't even wait for me to guess, he just had to spit it out. "Trout eggs! The science teacher gets trout eggs, and we get to watch them hatch, and grow, and then release them!"Now, I have a video of a much younger G helping at a trout stocking event when he was about 3, and as they poured the fish into buckets to be carried to the waterway, he stood looking into the buckets and squealing, and his whole body was just shaking with excitement. I saw that same reaction in him, six years later, as he was telling me about the trout eggs. G is happiest when he's wearing his hip waders, standing in a current, and fishing the day away. So, just knowing that he was going to be able to be in the presence of trout, TROUT!, all day every day, all winter long, until next fishing season, is just about the best thing that has ever happened to him.Of course, the eggs aren't going to be delivered until October, so I have a feeling I'm going to be answering the question "Mom, do you think the trout eggs are coming today?" 8,500 times until then, but that's OK, because I'm pretty sure that he'll bounce out of bed every day just to ask me that. I'm also sure that I will not hear one word about any other school activity unless I pry it out of him with a crowbar, but I'm going to hear more about those trout on a daily basis than I can stand.This year promises to be an interesting one. I'm looking forward to the growth that A's going to experience as he gets to make more choices and schedule his own time. I'm slightly dreading the onset of the hormonal teenage years, but at the same time, curious to see how he will navigate the trials and tribulations that go along with growing up.I am hoping that E continues to blossom like she did after her school change last year. She's had a lot of ups and downs for such a little kid, but I think she's finally on the right track and I'm enjoying seeing her confidence in herself re-emerge.Even though I won't hear much about it, I know G is going to make new friends, enjoy new subjects, and acclimate to his new environment. I can sense some epic battles on the horizon as I shackle him down to do the required amount of reading and goodness knows, the bigger projects that come along with fourth grade are going to cause some headaches, but we will get through them. And, whether I like it or not, I have a feeling I'm going to learn an awful lot about trout.Liz Pinkey is a contributing writer to the Times News. Her column appears weekly in our Saturday feature section.