No one wanted to leave the cottage this morning. No one. Not only were we leaving on a gorgeous day after a summer that will go down as one of the bests yet, but we were leaving to head straight back into schedules, routine, and . . . school.
With the older one going to a new school tomorrow, and the younger one going back to her old school, but with all but one of her friends gone (what happens when you’re only a JK but put in the SK class at a school that ends at SK), it’s a pretty fresh start for them. And for me. The “mom” networks that I’ve relied on for the past two years are all gone – hopefully to be replaced by new ones! But nonetheless, tomorrow signals a big change for all of us; not just the start of school.
So, starting on the drive home, I got to work on some of the things I had wanted to do over the course of the last week, but neglected in favour of spending some extremely precious moments with the kids and the Husband.
First up was creating new charts for the kids – I’m trying to teach them to take ownership of their work and their activities. To that end, each kid gets a chart at the beginning of each week. And each time they complete one of their activities – like practicing piano – they get a sticker. Sometimes I get really creative and give incentives if they do 3 or more things on their chart every day of a week. But mostly I just use it as a way to keep them focused on what they need to do.
I planned this week’s menus and updated this week’s “calendar at a glance” (because even though I have everything in my Google calendar, sometimes it’s nice for me, and the Husband, to have a visual reminder of what’s what, right there on the fridge).
I sat down with my planner before dinner too . . .and got everything for this week sorted, planned, and organized.
I also got backpacks, gym bags, and lunch bags out and ready . . . along with activity bags for this week (skating and soccer start this week too!).
As soon as the kids are down, I’m going to try and whip up a batch of Chocolate Chip Cookies (paleo, nut-free, gluten-free, and most importantly LOVED by the kids) and possibly some banana muffins too.
And then . . . well, after another load of laundry has been put in . . .I will sit down, with a glass of wine (our last for a long time as we are going to try and forgo wine for the next 60 days), and the Husband, and together, we’ll toast a summer that was all too perfect and that went all too fast.
Good luck to everyone that has kids starting school tomorrow and later this week. May everything go smoothly for you all!!
nancyhotson 
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