School started this week. Sweet Pea began middle school which has been a whole situation that I wasn't ready for. But she's absolutely loving it! She thinks her locker is the best thing ever. And despite not having a single class with her best friend, they managed to get lockers right next to each other so they get to gossip in between classes. I've really enjoyed seeing her blossom into a wonderful young lady.
But I'd really like to have my summer back. I miss my late mornings when I could sleep in, rush the girls into the car still in their pajamas and drop them off at my mom's on my way to work. Instead I'm stumbling out of bed bleary eyed, making breakfast, making lunches, getting myself pulled together and attempting to ensure that whatever my independent children put on in the morning follows the dress code.
As if losing my mornings wasn't bad enough, I've also lost my evenings. Gone are the nights when we'd all come home from our various activities to settle in and share. Watch TV together. Talk about the day. Instead, I'm coordinating four people as we try to figure out when to fit dinner in between 2 hour cheerleading practices, karate lessons, homework and my 45 minute commute home from work. This afternoon, Zilla and are are literally meeting in a parking lot so we can exchange children and then head off in opposite directions not to meet again until 8:30 when getting home and bedtime collide.
My weekends are obliterated as well. Saturdays are now full of football games and cheerleading. My Sundays are reserved for Sunday School and Girl Scouts.
I'd really like my summer back. We had season tickets to a local waterpark. I spent quite a few evenings after work and most of my weekends there with my girls this summer. I really enjoyed listening to them laugh and play. Counting down the days until next June.
Has school started in your area? Are you holding on with both hands to summer? Or are you looking forward to fall and all it brings?
Instigator
6 comments:
No kids in school anymore but my granddaughter did start kindergarten Monday. I imagine my daughter-in-law is going through the same thing you are.
When I was working and my boys were in school, I'd make lunches the night before. Yeah, it was one more thing to do at night, but it was also one less thing to do in the morning rush.
Instigator, I know this kind of life well. Be assured that in the hustle and bustle you are experiencing now, your daughters will love you forever for taking the time to share their new experiences with them.
Life is short. What we view as an inconvenience now, will only seem like a dream later on. I've lived what you're going through, x 4, and I can assure you that you are being the best Mom your kids need. And, when they're older, your girls will appreciate the sacrifices you've made for them.
Keep doing the Mom thing. It really does payoff, especially for Mom. Blessings!
You are a good mother who has created a child centered home. This you have have done without planning it or asking yourself if your should. That is so admirable. And you get to say it's hard.
(My friend, who is a juvenile probation officer is very high on "child centered" homes. Though not child dictated home, mind you.)
Ah, yes, hustle and bustle. It's a madhouse from now until Christmas!
I don't remember schedules being this complicated when I was a kid. To be honest, my mom didn't have the time, money or inclination to ferry me around to all that crap. We took a go or two at dance and gynmastics, but it never stuck. I came home from school most days, did my homework and played. And I'm not scarred in the least.
Now, the best part of summer for me, being childless, is the traffic. School starts and it seems like overnight the cars on the road double, the buses hold up traffic and the school zones combined with construction add at least 10 minutes to my commute.
Thanks, y'all, for making me realize that these things make a good mom. :-) I really needed to hear the perspective today.
Instigator
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