I was a bit of a mess last week. My oldest son began his first year of high school and my youngest seventh grade. My 7th grader remained at the same school so it was business as usual, but my oldest is about 45 minutes in the opposite direction. It has been a challenge figuring out how all of this is going to work for us, but I feel much better about it this week. Here are some of the lessons I have learned from this season.
Back To School has taught me that:
10. it’s overwhelming for everyone in many different ways. (Watching the planning play out on social media has been interesting this year. It really showed me how different we all are and what things are important to people.)
9. getting your supply list on the first day of school is NOT friendly for working parents. ( It’s not friendly for anyone, but now you have to run around like a maniac finding this stuff. The shelves have been cleared at this point so its slim pickings!)
8. I really hate the looks I get when I tell people my kids go to Catholic school. I feel as if I can’t talk about it all. (This is what works for us. End of story.)
7. I need to be prepared for anything. ( My late kid became this responsible bags packed and out the door in time child. My super responsible son lost his brand new pair of shoes on the first day of school changing into his gym clothes. What?)
6. you can ask for help because we are all parents and we are in this together. ( Since my guys are so far away from each other there are going to be times where I might need a hand. My husband works almost 2 hours away so it’s just me here. Thankfully, I reached out to my community, friends, and family for support. Now, I don’t feel as if I am in this alone nor are my kids. Good stuff happening!)
5. cafeteria food doesn’t have to be bad. ( Both of the cafeterias offer food from real restaurants! I love it! These guys are so lucky!)
4. I need to learn how to merge all of our calendars into one! ( I did it! I didn’t want to, but I did so now everyone can be responsible and stop asking me so many questions! Merged the online school calendar, Cozi Calendar, iCalendar, and Google all into one! The husband helped. )
3. getting up early is for the birds. ( I am NOT a morning person. Coffee doesn’t even taste good that early in the morning. I’m feeling grateful for my husband that has been doing this every day since forever and never complaining about it. )
2. just because the kids aren’t home doesn’t mean I have more time for myself. I actually have less time. ( Between sports, school picks up, and other activities I find that I have to arrange every thing around their schedule. My goal is to figure this out so I don’t feel like I’m losing out. We are only about 2 weeks in, I’m confident I will get it!)
1.you don’t need to buy every thing new every year. ( At least now I don’t have to do that anymore, before we had to buy supplies for the whole class. Buying or not buying ( because we could reuse from the year before ) is for my kid alone. )
Kate Johnson says
hitting September after summer vacation is like running into a brick wall. The schedules are SO full (of good things, of course, but perhaps one or two too many…) that I’m already feeling stretched thin and we’ve only just begun!
Rebecca Bryant says
I have to say school shopping was a breeze this year with the son in college. I didn’t have to buy multiple packs of pens or dry easers or anything. It was AMAZING!!!
Sapana V says
Haha! That’s such a great post. The first point is seriously so true…