I'm excited for having Luke home all summer.
I'm excited for summer adventures and activities like lake trips, bike rides, zoo visits, and lots of time in the backyard.
I'm surprised at how sad I feel that kindergarten is coming to an end, that he'll have a new class next year and a new teacher.
I'm apprehensive at how this summer might go, in terms of getting any blog work done or getting some "quiet time" in each (or at least most) days.
I am relieved to have a break from lunch packing and planning my whole day around school runs.
As much as I am looking forward to not rushing everyone out the door early in the morning, that part which I was so dreading nine months ago turned out to be not so bad. It could be better, there haven't been many mornings lately where we peacefully all get dressed, fed, and out the door without someone (me) trying to rush along other people (both boys and myself). I will not miss those frantic moments over the next couple months! But I have come to appreciate what getting out the door before 8am has meant!
1) Feeling productive before 8am
There aren't many stages in my life where I've been productive before 8am. No matter how crazy our morning might be (they aren't all bad), I feel a small sense of accomplishment every morning when Luke makes it to school on time (no tardies all year!). Maybe this is in part because of how much I was dreading it (getting out the door before 9:30 to run errands used to be a pretty good morning) but every morning as I pull out of the school parking I think "Yes, we did it." and mentally give myself a pat on the back.
2) Being around for the day so much quicker
Not even including the many days where Luke and I would go for runs mid-morning which meant I didn't shower until almost lunch, we were rarely all around for the day before 9am (see: leaving the house at 9:30 for errands). I always aimed to have a workout and shower in before Luke was awake but that time could fluctuate and then throw a baby in the mix last year and it could be mid-morning before I got to shower and Luke, well he spent many days at home in his jammies. I don't like my current pre-6am alarm but I do appreciate being around for the day so much earlier. A few times last fall Sam and I would drop Luke off and then come home and go for a run, but other than those days, I've always at least been showered, dressed, and make-up on before taking Luke to school (breakfast is about 60/40 before or after school drop-off). Sam is often in jammies for drop-off but just getting myself (and Luke) around feels like an accomplishment.
3) Library drop-off
Our library opens at 10am. In our before school life I always wanted to leave home for errands before 10 so we could drop books off before they opened and thus park in the handicap spots right up front for the 20 seconds it takes to run books to the drop box. We didn't always make this. There is also a mail dropbox in our library parking lot which I use often but with irregular errands and leaving the house schedule, it was hit or miss when I could actually drop things off (assuming I remembered before leaving the house).
Now, it is super easy to drop off library books and mail right after the school drop-off. I've even had to limit myself to this to just three times a week, otherwise I will be in the library parking lot every single morning to drop off the handful of books finished in the last 24 hours. Even I think that's a bit much. But it's nice knowing books will be returned timely (I always like getting things out of the house) and I can easily get things in the mail too. I will seriously miss this once school is out.
4) Being the first ones to Target
There are not a lot of places open at 8am. Aldis. I'm talking about Aldi. I would LOVE to do my grocery shopping first thing in the morning! Please reconsider your opening hours, Aldi! (And now that we are in a season of walking to pick-up, I have to make a special car trip just to go to Aldi in the early afternoon, come home to throw things in the fridge, and then walk to get Luke at school. I have nap times to work around!)
BUT, do you know what store does open at 8am? My beloved Target. And do you know how many people are at Target at 8am? Well, actually a few others, I've never been the only one there waiting to go in in the first couple minutes the doors are unlocked. But it's a pretty small number and I can get through the store pretty quick. Other stores we've frequented at 8am: Lowes, Fresh Thyme, and Kroger. So, really. It's just Aldi that is holding me up. (And the bank. And the post office. And Jo-Ann. And Half Price Books. And Hobby Lobby. All of which I've only visited a handful of times all school year since I never want to make special trips.)
5) Sam's routine
When we got Luke, Matt's work threw us a little baby shower luncheon. This was after Matt had gone back to work and so infant Luke and I were supposed to meet him there. We were an hour late. For an event that started at 11am. It was rough. (I'm still blaming his apnea monitor which would go off every time he screamed which did not make a screaming baby any easier and got on my every last nerve when I was already frustrated with what to do with a screaming baby.) My days at home with just a baby Luke were MUCH different than my days at home with just a baby Sam. I had Luke on a routine but it was still pretty loose and I remember days I didn't shower until his second nap around lunch.
Sam didn't get that. By the time he came along we were on a pretty good schedule with Luke and then a few months later throwing a school schedule in meant that Sam's schedule is pretty tight. Since our weekdays are always starting at the same time, thanks to school runs, Sam's schedule is pretty locked down. He's up for breakfast with Luke, whether he wants to be or not. He has to hold off on his second nap until we get Luke from school. Having the non-nonnegotiables in our day may have made getting Sam on a good schedule even easier. I also know what I have to do when, on a tight schedule, to get the things in I want done during Sam's school time nap.
I say I'm going to miss all these benefits to being out of the house before 8am BUT...I know the first weekday I don't have to do it, I will be glad for a slower morning and maybe getting to sleep past 6am. Except for the library drop-off, I really think I am going to miss getting my books returned so promptly!
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