Obligatory First Day Of School Post

Today I had my thirty-ninth first day of school. I think--math is not my thing.

Thirty-nine years ago, I went to Kindergarten in Mrs. Sturm's class, and today, I welcomed the beautiful baby faces of the class of 2020. (PS--The class of 2020 is in seventh grade this year.)

The first day of school is so full of promise and hope. Lovely faces in new clothes and shoes carry new supplies into a classroom. They have visions of being a straight A kid. They all have visions of growing up and being whatever they want to be. They also have dreams of making such a difference in the world that one day their life story will become a block-buster movie. And on this day--the first day of school--I share that vision with them.

I know, realistically, that not every kid will have a block-buster life for any number of heart-breaking reasons. I know, realistically, that there will come a day--some sooner, some later--that we will no longer share a vision with each other. I'll want them to work, and they'll just want the attention of the cute co-ed sitting at the next table. They are seventh graders, of course, even the best of teachers just can't compete with hormones on those cold winter days between New Year's and Spring Break.

But, the beauty of the first day of school is that you get one every year. And that's a wonderfully hopeful thing. It's also the reason I have had thirty-nine first days of school to call my very own.

And now for the obligatory first day of school picture. The Daughters are in transitional years. Daughter 1 is in the eighth grade--the last year of middle school. Next year, she'll be in high school. HOLY COW!  Daughter 2 is in the fifth grade--the last year of elementary. Next year, she'll be in middle school. God save the queen. With me being the queen, of course.

Aren't they the smartest, most beautiful creatures?

Happy New Year, Take Two

Seriously, my alarm must not be working. I really only want to wake up at 6:00 a.m. and get some writing or yoga or mediation or a shower by myself worked into my day. I've set my alarm every single day to do this and so far, I've woken up at 7:42, 9:33, and today at 8:24. I'm not hearing my alarm. Brian assures me that it's going off. He also assures me that I'm turning it off. I have no recollection of this mess at all. Brian also says that maybe I'd hear the alarm if I went to bed before midnight and didn't play on my phone right before I went to bed. But, what does he know.

Nonetheless, I will continue to have my alarm set for six in the morning and will do my best to not hit snooze, but to wake up and be productive instead. It's part of my monthly challenge.

The other part of this monthly challenge is twenty miles. D1 and I plan on walking a total of twenty miles this month. This is because we need to get moving and because she'll be starting golf really soon and she's taking a trip over Spring Break and needs to be ready to walk a lot. So far, we've done zero miles.

January 1 was the first, and we just chilled out. January 2 was yesterday, and I was in Tulsa doing this:



(Happy belated Creme Puff Day, by the way.)

I feel confident that we'll get our twenty miles in for this month, just probably not until school starts back.

And I do believe that this post sums up the beauty and the beast of what we call Christmas Vacation. During the school year, we go non-stop, ninety-to-nothing, pedal to the metal, balls to the wall (well, one of us anyway) that when Christmas vacation rolls around and the holidays and all of their obligations are out of the way, we collapse and our bodies go into full-blown rest mode and nothing else matters. It's a beautiful thing because we need it. It's a beastly thing because it's not endless and we have to get back into the swing of things just as quickly as we got out of the swing of things. Not that we're swingers ... despite what some have assumed based on my book title alone. (We're not. So there. Stop emailing me.)

Saturdays I'll be blogging about our progress, so you can rest assured that even though I'm not daily blogging about how we're meeting (or missing) our challenges, I'll keep you informed weekly. You're breathing easier already, right?

So, even though 2014 has started, I call a do-over on my monthly challenge on January 6. Until then, don't call me before 9 a.m..

Five For Friday: School Year Sanity Savers

I love my summer--I really do. I love sleeping in (this love is not reserved for the summer, though); I love staying up late; I love the relaxed pace; I love calling all the shots; I love summer.

But.

I love my routine as well ... maybe even more. And when August rolls around and school starts back up, I'm ready to get my family back into a routine once again. Here are five things I do that really help our school year start off right and same my sanity by bringing routine back to reign in our house once again.

1. H Day and B Day: Our big wall calendar that hangs by the garage door for all to see as we leave the house every single day has, for all intents and purposes, become obsolete. Brian and I have synched our phones with our work calendars and our google calendars, but we leave this calendar up to keep the peace in the house. Every single day is marked with either an H for Daughter 1 or a B for Daughter 2. All it took was a pen (actually a pink pen and a blue pen) and a calendar. Easy.

When The Daughters ask those tough questions--Who sits in the front seat today? Who picks out the Redbox tonight? Who has to do the extra chore? Who gets to lick the cake batter bowl?--we go to the calendar.

Oh! It's an H Day or a B Day. That person gets the honor, for better or worse, and there are no arguments. The calendar always rules.

2. The Chore Chart: The chore chart never changes. If it's your day (see the schedule just above here), you will sweep the kitchen floor tonight. There is no discussion.

It's framed, so there's no, "Whoops! The chore chart got wet; we can't read it." It's hanging in the kitchen, so there's no, "Where'd the chore chart go?" It's unchanging so there's no, "What? That was today? I didn't know."

Sure, it took Momma a while to get ahead of the game with this, but with a print out from the computer and a frame from the dollar store, it's game on now.

3. School/Crap Box: A million and one grey hairs: That's how long it took me to figure this one out. I don't do morning and because (until this school year), Brian was on a much earlier schedule, the morning routine/attitude fell to me. Yes, I know. It was disasterous. We'd barely get ready on time then we'd have to find all the crapola that we needed for school, after school, sports, etc...

We now have two boxes (one for each daughter) that sit on our fireplace mantle. The girls dump all of their crap in there every day when they come home from school. They get homework out and then put it back in the box. Their empty (for the most part) lunch boxes get chunked into the box as well. Then, in the mornings when we're running out the door three minutes after we should be running out the door, they just grab their crap from the box and go. There's no gathering anything because it's all right there.

4. Cutsie Clipboards: Back in the day when I neglected my home and family in order to scrapbook (now I'm negligent in order to write), I modge podged (What? It's a verb.) a couple of cute clipboards for The Daughters. They are marked with their names and they hang just underneath the above-mentioned calendar. When The Daughters bring home notices from school that require mine or Brian's attention--such as Pickles, Popcorn and Candy day, or a need for money--such as Picture Day or yearbook orders, or a signature--such as field trip forms or any of the other 4,261 forms we have to sign the first week of school, they clip those notices on their clipboards. Brian and I deal order, write checks, sign or whatever needs to be done and put the paperwork in their above mentioned school boxes. If it's not on the clipboard, it doesn't get Momma's and Daddy's attention. It's a great system. I wish everyone who needed a piece of me had a clipboard.

5. Today's Chef Plate: The Daughters (and Brian, too!) each have a day a week to be the chef. They plan the meal and cook it all themselves and clean up. This helps them understand that cooking is hard work but fun, and Momma doesn't try to cook crap they won't eat, despite the latest household polls. I'm with them in the kitchen when they do this. It's not like I'm sitting in the recliner, eating Taco-flavored Doritos watching reruns of Friends. Usually, I'm checking Facebook. I kid! I kid! Mostly.

To make it a super big fancy deal, I bought a one dollar plate and dug out some scrapbooking stickers and made a "Today's Chef" plate. With dry erase marker, we announce, on the plate, the day's chef. It's totally for show, but it sure does make it fun for them to be a chef.

And speaking of dry erase markers ... did you know you can write on mirrors and class with those markers and it will just wipe off? This is a fun way to give messages, reminders and draw funky faces for your kids in the mornings. But, since I'm not a morning person, I usually do this after midnight the night before...

Friday Flashback: Just Ignore It

Daughter 1 had a rough start to her schooling. She went through several Mother's Day Out programs before we found one that didn't forget about her as she played outside. (True Story.) First Friends had great hours, worked with her through nap time (the kid gave up naps at 18 months old), and had great teachers.

Miss Julie was one of those great teachers.

Five For Friday: Favorite School Supplies

This is the time of year that Momma becomes a little lotta bit cra-cra. Summer is winding down and that makes me sad.

But The Daughters are pushing every last button I have and that makes me twitchy.

We've also had a great summer and that makes me happy.

And the school supplies have hit the store and that makes me giddy.

So even though The Daughters going back to school means that I go back to school with them, I let those few rows of school supply wonder erase any melancholy I feel about the end of summer.

Here are my five favorite school supplies.

1. Composition Books. I love a fresh notebook with its empty pages, so full of the promise of new and powerful words. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Chances are that the pages will be filled with grocery lists and recipes I'll never make, but the possibility that I'll fill those pages with words that wax poetic about this wonder known as life still exists. Even if only in my very tired mind.

2. Crayons. So far, The Daughters have never asked for a 64 box of Crayolas (with the built-in sharpener) and if they ever ask for it, I'm not sure what I'll do. Because if anyone in this household is getting a box of 64 Crayolas (with the built-in sharpener), it will be me. And I'll use all 64 colors to draw pictures on my fresh new composition book. (Now, we could get a 96-count box of Crayolas. This gives me goosebumps.)

3. Cap Erasers. These things are magic, y'all. Don't believe me? Try this: Buy a package of them. Leave them on your kitchen counter when you get in from the store. Race to the bathroom (because you always have to go to the bathroom when you're bringing in sacks from Hellmart) come back to the kitchen and voila! They've disappeared.

4. School Bags. Oh. My Heavens. I could very easily be a street person and carry all of my possessions in all of my bags. I love back packs and messenger bags and over-the-shoulder slings. I love plaid bags and chevron bags (why the hate for chevron, people?) and polka dotted bags and monochromatic bags. I just love bags. Of course, I never actually use one, I just buy them, pile them in my closet and occasionally run my hand over their beauty.

Source

5. Colored Pens. I'm convinced that if peace treaties were signed with green or purple or pink or turquoise ink, there'd be no more war. "Imagine there's no black ink..." those are Lennon's lost lyrics. I'm almost positive.

Are you ready for school to start? Then you need some candy. Head HERE and get registered for cool prizes, including candy!