Back to School

The kids went back to school yesterday. Yippee! Not that the last two weeks have been bad, because they haven't (except for all the "this is the worst Christmas ever" stuff, but we'll let that slide). Most of the kids extracurricular activities were cancelled over the break, so there were only a few places we had to be. We hung out, did nothing, had nowhere that we had to be, relaxed. The kids even got along pretty well. It was nice.

However, nice only lasts so long. We weren't going to make it much longer. Two weeks is about our limit. Yes, please don't remind me about summer, being a stay-at-home-mom is by far the most challenging during the summer. Two and a half months of trying to find things for the kids to do so you don't have to listen to "I'm bored" and "what can I do?". So it was a good thing that the kids started school yesterday. My friend told me she walked her son into class at 7:43 (they start at 7:45) and everyone was in class and in their seats. Nobody was in the drop off line, it was empty. That's highly unusual. Do you know why it was like that? Because everybody was sick of their kids and couldn't wait to drop them off at school and get a break from them. That doesn't mean we don't love them, but too much quality time can be a bad thing.

Anyway, we went back to our crazy schedule of school and daily activities. It's good to be on a schedule and in our routine, but that routine includes Andy being a total jerk to Sarah when we pick him up from school. I'm not sure what it is. I think he's just on his best behavior for so long during the school day, because the teachers love him and have nothing but wonderful things to say about him, that when we pick him up he has to be a total ass. As they say, you take things out on the ones you love. He must really love Sarah. Yesterday, I asked him to try, try so much harder than he has, to think of me every time he wants to say something mean to Sarah, and remember that it hurts me just as much as it hurts her because I have to listen to her complain and whine about it. I don't think my pleas were heard. We'll see.

Now that the kids are back at school, I'm slowly trying to get the house back in order and get back to my daily chores. Over the holidays I didn't cook that much and did laundry only when I had to. There's toys everywhere and we need to find spots for our new things and maybe get rid of or donate some old things. My friends Jenny and Melanie decided to tackle their houses one room at a time, one day at a time. I love the idea, but I think I'd just move the junk from room to room everyday and probably never finish. Maybe if I do one room a week, and really spend time getting that room exactly where I want it, then the changes will stick and the house can stay more organized.

I'm also trying to get Amanda back into a nap routine. She is not excited about it, but needs the sleep, and I need a little time to myself so I can, you know, clean the house and talk to you. I'm already dreaming of next year when she's in school and I can get everything done so much faster because she's not there undoing it or fighting me on everything. It still won't be enough, the time will fly, but it will be better that what I get today.

So now we're on the countdown to the end of school. Crazy, but true. Figuring out what camps the kids will go to, what trips we'll take, who we're going to visit, and how we're going to afford it all. In the meantime, we'll just stick to our routine, work on getting more organized and less cluttered, and hope that Andy figures out how to be nicer to his sister. Just a typical week.