I don’t know about you, but from the second week of August on, I feel like I am in some kind of a race until school starts. There are doctor’s appointments, haircuts, school supply shopping, school clothes shopping, sports and music practices and camps, finding out school schedules, and if you have a child going to college for the first time, even more dorm shopping to do. Of course they need sheets and towels, but also cleaning supplies and some food items and the question of getting them a printer or not. There are Amazon packages being delivered and you are hoping that you don’t forget something.
I know that I am looking forward to school starting just to get back to some sort of routine. We were doing ok with the general summer routine, but last week and this week are throwing me for a curve. Take today for example. Last week at this time, I knew the college kid was working one of her jobs from 5:30am-1:30pm. The high schooler had cheer practice from 7:00-8:30am and then a picture for the cheer poster at 8:30am. She then had to go to her nanny job, an appointment at 11:00, back to nanny, stop by the school to get yearbook, parking sticker, and final schedule, and then be in a football hype video sometime in the evening. By the end of the week, she no longer was doing the hype video, and the older one had been asked to take a shift at her second job. I meanwhile had doctor’s appointments at 10:00am and 1:00pm. By last night, the younger one was back in the hype video, and the older one was taking that extra shift meaning she would go from her first job to her second one until 7:00pm making it a 13.5 hour work day for her. By 2:00 this afternoon, my husband told me he had a snowmobile club board meeting tonight, and the younger one’s call time for the video got moved up by 30 minutes meaning she now had to do makeup and hair at the nanny kids’ house. What is happening?? How did this much stuff get shoved into one day?? This gives the college kid about 36 hours to pack to move back to college and into a house for the first time. I’m sure it will all get done, but why is it all so last minute?
I don’t really have a good “message” in this post. I mostly want to say that if you are feeling this same way, I feel you. We are all just trying to get these kids back to school and into some sort of a new routine without losing our minds in the process. I have so many things blocked off and scheduled and reminders written in my planner and the on the family calendar that I don’t know if there is room to write another thing on there. And this doesn’t even include dance or horses! Those things have had to take a slight backseat this month…even though one did have 3 rehearsals in the past week and performed at the Iowa State Fair yesterday.
I am ready for the new school year, and for the love of God, someone give me a predictable routine where I have a reasonable chance of most of the family being at home for the same 15 minutes when I can have dinner ready. Someone will tell me that I will miss these days just like I missed the days of them being little and drawing on the walls. I’m sure I will, but it’s going to take a little perspective to see that.
Peace (well, not this week) from The Edge,
Julia
