School: Week 1

The first week of school flew right on by us. My goal this year is to stay on top of things better by being more organized and planning ahead. Here are some highlights of the perfect (albeit not-so-breezy) start.

Monday: The girls are ready by 7 a.m., about the last time Aidan is seen hugging the toilet. The poor guy missed day one due to the tummy-bug but after eight hours in front of the TV and gaming devices, he seemed no worse the wear. Solomon woke with green goop flushing out of his eyes. I cancel my gym appointment. No worries, there's always the lake in need of walkers! I am amped: we are going to have a great year!

I get home from dropping the girls off at the bus stop (where Lily told me she couldn't WAIT for nap time), get Liam ready for his bus and after he chases Solly with the broom for a few minutes, he is off to his first day of preschool.

After walking with a friend (a walk that included me running a quarter mile back home to get the tire pump so that I could blow up ALL.THREE. FLAT.TIRES on my jogging stroller....why I didn't notice that BEFORE we started, I'll never know), taking lunch to Kurt at work, and quickly coming up with a short devotional to lead at mom's group that afternoon, I pick Liam up from school, go to mom's group and then head to the grocery store (an adventure that included taking Liam to the bathroom where I stuffed his free cookie in my pocket while he went....why, Karen, why?) before picking the girls up from the bus stop. Phew....day one is half way done and I feel like I'm running my second marathon of the day!

Later in the evening, the kids start swim lessons. Liam keeps getting out of the water to ask me to come help him while Solomon squirms himself into a ball of sweat. Meanwhile, Lily won't get in the water past her feet (kicking, screaming, clawing when they try to take her) so after 40 minutes, I finally bite the bullet and walk over to ask the supervisor for advice. At that same moment, the very end of class, each of the kids gets to jump into the water into the arms of the instructor. Right as I am telling the supervisor my kid is too scared to get in the water for some reason (what should I do?), Lily happily jumps from the edge and splashes her way back to the side.....REALLY LILY? You sit there the entire 45 minutes acting like you are scared to death of the water and then somehow feel perfectly safe jumping in off the side? The supervisor asks, "You mean that little girl in pink jumping from the ledge right now?" ARGH! I might as well have taken Lily into the car mechanic and told them she was squeaking whenever I put on the brakes! She'll do better (read: cooperate) next time, I'm just sure of it (partly because we threatened to take away dessert for the rest of her childhood, or something like that, if she doesn't.....)

By bedtime, I have come down with a bad cold (thank you Solomon for those big, sloppy kisses and the heat seeking germs you sneezed onto my eyeballs!) I feel terrible.

Tuesday: We are up a little late since I am dragging from the Ny-quil I took last night. Not quite functioning up to normal standards, I pour soy sauce on Madeline's waffles....in my defense, the soy sauce and syrup containers, side by side in the fridge door, are awfully easy to get mixed up when one is in a hurry.

After salvaging the few bites that didn't get doused, she finishes eating and I still manage to get the kids to the bus stop with 20 minutes to spare. (This "getting organized the night before" thing really seems to be working!) As we wait, for the bus the kids and I talk about their new school gear. I was pointing out the hidden pockets in Aidan's super cool backpack when I noticed he was trying to secretly charge his DSi which he was trying to smuggle onto the bus. (We have rules against this which apparently he has forgotten from last year when he lost the DSi for an entire month for the same violation.) I take the game system away, claiming ownership for the rest of the week as a warning. If it happens again, it will be two months plus extra chores. We both smile about it, for obviously very different reasons.

On my way in from the bus stop, I notice the growing donation pile in my hallway and remember there is more to get rid of down in the basement. I go down to grab those items and remember I need to put the clothes in the dryer (also in the basement). Being in the laundry room reminds me I need to wash Aidan's blankets and sheets from the day before when he was sleeping on the bathroom floor, snuggling with the toilet in the wee hours of the morning. As I gather the laundry, I remember him telling me that he was eye level with at least a half dozen spiders. I grab the rags and clorox and go to work cleaning and sanitizing, silently thanking Aidan for forcing me to clean a bathroom that has gone unnoticed for far too long. I head back upstairs to throw away all the trash, forgetting to take up any of the donation stuff I had gone down for in the first place. So much for being more organized! It's only 9 a.m. though so plenty of time left to CLEAN MY ENTIRE LIFE UP before walking the lake with my friend....but then it continued....


After my walk and a brief visit to the garden, I feed Liam his lunch and take him to school, so very happy that we are right on time (and not ten minutes late like I was with Lily most of last year.) I grab Solomon and then go to get Liam out of his seat only to find he has taken his shoes off.....at. the. house! Taking a deep breath, I put Solly back in the truck and drive back to the house to get his shoes and socks. He's ten minutes late when I finally sign him in. Now I'm ten minutes late to my run with a neighbor (yes, I know, second workout of the day.....what can I say? I got excited about the freedom!)  I zoom home to get Solly in the jogging stroller. I'm back on track now, or so I tell myself. We do a 5 mile-ish jog while Solly sleeps. Unfortunately, he awakes before I get my shower so I clear the bathroom of the most common baby magnets (trash can, extra toilet paper rolls, plunger, etc.) and put him on the floor to play with some cars. When I get out, Solomon is sitting in the middle of a HUGE pile of toilet paper; he had unraveled the entire roll on the wall. (See my last post.) Apparently I missed that one. The day is much smoother after that, although Aidan lost his lunch box at school (yes, day one for him and he's already down one lunch box....and his water bottle...).

Wednesday: Life didn't quite go as planned yesterday but no worries, I am going to make up for it today. Kids at school, workout, groceries, clean house (again), pick up kids, prep for swimming (Kurt took them and with treats hanging over her head, Lily did in fact swim, of course), go teach lessons, check, check, check, check, check.....the only snag, Aidan couldn't find his lost lunchbox. I threaten to make him eat school lunch everyday if he can't find it. We'll see how that plays out.

Thursday: Everything is going very smooth now that I am adjusting to such a quiet house....outside of trying to sweep while feeding Solly his bottle (one handed sweeping is an acquired skill), I can't complain. I even went to Home Goods and got some shopping done (a new Bialetti stovetop espresso maker to replace our old one and a few Christmas gifts) Oh, and Aidan left his second lunchbox on the bus.....Week one and he has now lost TWO lunchboxes. That settles his lunches for some time now....he can choose to use the extra princess lunchbox or just eat the hot lunch. Hee hee hee.

Friday: House is clean, kids are at school, Solomon is sleeping, good friend just left after a couple hours of coffee, chatting and testing the Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes I made last night. We plan a sewing get together for next month as I dream of all I might get accomplished with only a kid or two around. (On deck: borrowing a food processor to make another couple batches of pesto with the basil I salvaged before the frost hit yesterday! Somehow it doesn't seem right that we are already in the 30s at night! Yikes!)

All in all, this has been a great beginning to what looks like a terrific year! (So long as I don't ever get sick and nothing out of the ordinary happens....of course, the ordinary includes a whole lot of craziness in this house!)

Have a great weekend!