Back to School Routine

We are back to school!  I say "we" although really it's just Luke back to school although a lot of the responsibilities fall to me which makes it a "we".  He's been back for a week now and I am desperately missing the more relaxed schedules of summer while also appreciating the routine and structure that the school year brings.

I have THOUGHTS on starting in mid-August (please let me have another week of real summer!  At least!) but it's not just the starting in August.  The prepping for back to school really starts almost two weeks before that.  This is Luke's first year with uniforms so I had to finish figuring those out. (He's at the same private school as last year but kindergarten doesn't wear uniforms there.)  I, of course, bought most of his clothes on Cyber Monday last year but Target shockingly wasn't selling uniform shorts in November and I still needed (plain) socks and his gym uniform (thankfully just plain shorts and t-shirt I could buy from Target) and gym shoes (NOT happy about having a whole second pair of shoes just to sit in his gym bag all year) and just making sure I had gotten it all. 

Then there was the supply shopping which is a bit of a madhouse.  We did it earlier than last year but it's still A LOT of stuff to buy and haul into school on the first day (I have thoughts on that one too).  He could reuse his backpack but we needed a new lunchbox system after his was limping through the last month of kindergarten.  I put way more energy into that one than I should have but so far, so good. 

We also intended to start getting him up at school time about 2.5 weeks before school started so he could get used to the early to bed, early to rise routine.  That turned into about a week before school.  Then a couple days before school, with a late night for a wedding thrown in there.  So...that one kinda failed.  BUT...it probably would have given us some easier nights if we had managed to do it. It's hard to get ourselves to go to bed (or stop reading) earlier in the night so we can be ready before he needs up. 

Luke also got glasses a couple weeks ago.  Something we knew was coming since May but even the eye doctor recommended putting off until right before school since they'd likely get broken over the summer and who wants to pay that charge? (I'm sure I will some day have to replace broken glasses, just putting it off a little longer).  So it was getting fitted for those and picking them up and him being so excited that he was going to wear them all the time...to wearing them the first day and hardly again until school started.  Then taking them off before we are even off school grounds so he can run part of the way home without me yelling "no running in glasses!".  (We'll see if he remembered to take them off for his first gym class today.)

All this school prep while also being sad that another summer is over and trying to soak in time with Luke when really all he wants to do is play with the neighbor's dogs...it's a lot.  We did pretty well with our Summer Fun List, getting almost everything checked off by the end of July besides kayaking which we intended to do over our lake vacation and then Sam needed stitches (a whole other ordeal) from a fall and we were instructed to keep his incision dry and out of the water...which is FANTASTIC when we were just 3 hours into a week at the lake.  But we aren't done at the lake yet (still have a jet ski and pontoon in the water for starters) so hopeful that will still happen.  And we do all agree that summer isn't really over until the jet ski is out of the water, even if we all are waking up earlier these days.

We're back to slightly frantic mornings with a little bit of anxiety every day that Luke will be late for (now earlier start time) school, even though I got him there on time every (healthy, non-snow) day last year.  We're trying to get Luke to bed earlier so we can get to bed earlier so we can get up earlier and get in something of a workout and shower before getting the boys up to rush through a morning routine and out the door.  (There definitely is a problem with getting them up TOO early too though and we've yet to hit that perfectly right amount of time so we aren't rushed but not too much time for dawdling either, at least this school year.  All the tips and hints and hacks welcome.)

Sam and I are back to much quieter days.  Luke's first day at school I wasn't even sure what to do!  Sam, at almost 18 months, is at a much different stage than when Luke started school a year ago.  He can climb and vocalize and get into EVERYTHING (some of his favorite past times).  But I had forgotten what it was like to have actual quiet hours and time to focus, with a baby who is still taking one very good nap a day!  (Hence this rambling blog post). 

The house is actually pretty clean for most of the day and the after school hours definitely need a bit more structure and routine so those are generally all over the place.  It's hard fitting in time with Luke (and he hasn't even had homework yet!) and wanting to read to him (our reading has taken a real hit since school started) and also needing to make dinner and keep Sam out of trouble.  Not to mention it still FEELS like summer outside (97° heat index as I write this). 

This isn't a post so much about routines but about all the feelings and thoughts that come with another school year starting and our schedules massively changing.  My days are quieter and much less full than summer.  There's no longer the pressure to make the most of summer, even if it's not over, our ability to enjoy most of it is greatly reduced.  And I really feel we did make the most of summer, or least had a lot of adventures and fun things going on.  So there is a peace going into the school year knowing that. 

I'm going to work on refining my naptime routines and errand running routines and try to do better with the morning rush and the afternoon downtime before bath and bedtime routines start.  I like structure and I know it's good for kids but I also know Luke just needs some time to play after sitting at a desk most of the day.  And while I want to know everything that happened at school, I usually find out more if I just let him tell me in his own time. 

The seasons keep changing, which I appreciate and finding our footing in a new one always takes a little bit of time.  I know we'll get there!  Life would be boring if it was always the same (and this is from someone who REALLY likes routine).

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