The Middle
The first is a blog I should probably add to the rotation of things that I read regularly. Anything that can help as pick-me-up in these fast, fleeting, hard, monotonous, elementary school, prek years is probably a good thing. Since I don't have an early morning coffee group I can join easily at this point. Maybe in a few years I'll start one.
This week is a good example of the difficulties of scheduling a family of 5. It's EOQ which means Lew is MIA. And it's still September which means all of the school stuff is VIP and ASAP with all the exclamation points. Fun Run. Raise money! Technology! More iPads! Help raise money! Help! Help! You win prizes kids for raising money! Last week I told G to make a mental note of all the prizes he wanted and I'd keep them in mind for Christmas. But by Friday I relented, signed him up, and asked all the people that didn't donate last year if they could donate this year. I gave a mental sigh and just added $50 to every September budget (per kid) for the Fun Run. And I had peanut butter and jelly for lunch and a few dinners this week.
Curriculum Night. Must attend! Parents! Must attend! 5-6:30pm. Must attend! Learn all the important things you need to know to help engage your kids this year and what they must learn! Must attend! Oh and kids not allowed. Forget that 5pm is ridiculous for working parents. Forget that my babysitter went to college (the nerve) and left me asking back up sitter (band practice - the nerve!) and then a brand new sitter. Who blessedly did not have a volleyball game to cheer for so she could help me out. And J only cried for 5 minutes before requesting her prerequisite the-baby-sitter-is-here-so-she-gives-me-cookies cookie.
Boy Scouts. Den Meeting. Must attend! Important info for the camp out! Tiger Tails Badge! Must attend! Bring chairs! Bring books for service project! 6-7pm! And of course, what should have been a single event for Dad and G, ended up with me there with all three kids. And of course, the baby didn't nap at all yesterday. And we have to rush through dinner at 5 to get there in time and I have to haul the baby, three camping chairs, a bag of books, G's tiger workbook, snacks for D and J, water bottles because it's Texas and therefore still 90 and push the stroller. G helps he carries stuff and D carries the littlest chair and I push the stroller loaded down with crap. I could go off at this point on parking lots and people driving too fast and how as my boys try stepping out from behind the car, passing cars are going 30 miles an hour in front of the library and I glared down every single one of them because the speed limit is 15. If you hit my kids, passing car, I will spend the rest of my days making sure you serve a long jail sentence and never have a license for the rest of your life. Not to mention the mental anguish I am sure you would feel and the remorse of having hurt my children. So just slow the heck down! All that said we got there. And J did really well. It was D that ended up having to be rushed into the bathroom inside the library and I just dropped everything and ran with him and was inside the bathroom for 20 minutes just asking God to make sure the Den leader wouldn't let everyone leave until I got back. Which is obviously what would happen. But when you're in the bathroom with the 4yo you just don't know.
Even more simplistic than that ... it's not last year. So the baby is much more agreeable to being up a touch later. She isn't nursing round the clock. I am sleeping more (ish) at night. So at the very least these activities are possible this year versus last year when I just would have said flat - NO.
Part of it is overwhelming because I'm borrowing trouble in my mind; this is just one kids activities. One kids school requirements. I am going to need a secretary when there's three of them.
To "reframe" (using the word my friend the therapist uses) again; this is why I stay home. I stay home so the kids can do all these things, so I can attend all the school events possible, so I can be involved and the kids can have their experiences. So that there is one parent dedicated to these activities and the other parent can be dedicated at work. It's a blessing it works this way.
Even if sometimes it does get exhausting and tedious and hard.
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