Today is September 3rd, and in our neck of the woods (Western NY/Buffalo area) that can only mean one thing...
School is about to start!
I know. I know. I sound a little too excited, don't I?!
I'm really not, honestly. The beginning of September always comes with bittersweet feelings that must be reminiscent of my childhood days. Do I want school to start? Do I want summer to end? Do I want to say goodbye to my kiddos for hours on end while they head off to their classrooms? I know they certainly don't feel like heading off to their classrooms for hours on end.
As I flipped the calendar page this week I felt like I should hear a trumpet bellowing out a tune to alert me to an important announcement:
"Here ye, Here ye!
Today ends the endless carefree schedule, late bedtimes, lack of structure, bored children, sleepovers, pool parties, don't make your bed, squeeze in the summer reading, roast marshmallows, fun in the sun, squeeze the most of life, kind of days.
Yes, yes. I'm sorry to inform you.
You may proceed to engage in picnics and parties for the rest of the weekend, but you must also get your supplies, shoes, backpacks, snacks, water bottles, lunch boxes and books ready. Another school year is about to commence."I must say, I'm thankful to have friends who live in places like Ohio, Massachusetts, Florida and Michigan, where school started this week. Their first day of school pictures always help me to acclimate to the impending transition....like easing into the water in a 0 depth entry pool rather than jumping right into the deep end (I like slow transitions!).
The hardest part for me about a new school year is reinstating the structured days...
The reality is, I'm a middle of the road mom when it comes to structure. There are moms WAY more structured than me and moms WAY less structured then me. I'm content with my middle of the road structure status.
Structure in the way of bedtimes, and chores, reading schedules and homework, a clean house and folded laundry...well, sure it makes me feel better! It makes me feel on top of things. But, when it comes to executing such structure....ahhh, well...I'm still waiting to take that class. Sometimes, when it's time for dinner, and backpacks are flying, and homework questions are coming at me, and the laundry is sitting pretty and piled high, I keep thinking the "real" mom is about to walk through the door and make it all happen like a pro.
And then I remember, I AM the "real" mom. Hahahahaha.
So, I'm bracing to re-embrace the necessity of highly structured days that I aspire to be good at, but don't always follow through on. I'm a little bit sad to let the girls head back to their classrooms for hours on end, mostly because there are things I still wanted to do with them that we never got around to this summer...
I wanted to paint a picture with Ella (she's my little artist).
I wanted to go geo-caching with Ava (she's my little adventurer).
I wanted to take Aubrey to Museum of Play in Rochester WITH her sisters to show her all of the fun stuff...not just with boring mom (she's my embrace life as it comes, exuberantly busy 3rd child!).
I wanted to hit up a waterpark and food truck Tuesdays in Buffalo.
We did do other things-- lots of spontaneous sleepovers, playdates, neighborhood play sessions...the stuff summer should be filled with. So, you know what? I'm penciling the rest of my little bucket list into the fall. Who says it all had to be done this summer and why would I have put such silly expectation on myself in the first place?!
I am looking to a few quieter mornings. There are house projects I'd like to tackle, more writing I'd like to do, and thoughts I'd like to find that have receded to the faraway, quieter places of my brain. I plan to recapture them, and sit with them...maybe write about them, or write poems from them, or use them to resurrect parts of our family life that I always have good intentions of trying to act on, but get too busy to actually follow through on.
Here's to yearly transitions-- I do love that September feels ripe for trying out new habits and setting a few new goals (even more so than January for me). Here's to embracing structure again. Here's to extending my "summer" bucket list into the fall.
Ode to a New School Year
Here ye, Here ye.
The summer days were long and fun
But the daily party has had its run
Structure, I say, is due to return
So back to school you must go to learn
It's time for new friends, classrooms and Fall
Lets celebrate a new school year, adventure and all!
Blessing to all my momma friends and their kiddos as we start a new year!
