two Weeks left

The countdown officially begins today, Monday, August 18th. Just one week from today, we will be waving goodbye as our kids board the big yellow school bus for another year of adventure through education. That means that another summer has come and gone, and we advance to another year of school.

This year we will send out 2 to the high school, 1 to the intermediate school, 1 to elementary, and 1 to pre-school. Yes, all 5 are now in school. (However, #5, will only be in half-day pre-school.) 

So what will this week look like?

It will be a battle as we transition from the lazy days and late nights of summer to regular evening routines, bed times, and early morning wake up calls. Starting today, we will begin preparing our kids for the shock and awe of the first day of school. We're going over high school schedules, talking about new teachers and classmates, and of course navigating the "back-to-school" shopping. It will definitely be an interesting week.

For me, back to school means back to life as usual. It means schedules and organization and structure, and I enjoy that. Even though, I am out of the house for a significant time during the day, just knowing that there is a schedule is comforting. I love summer. I love the fact that the kids are home. But I don't always love the lack of schedule, nor do I like the feeling to over schedule. Finding that middle ground is a little tricky. And to be honest, the last three summers, basically since we've moved, our summer has been less then something we looked forward to. Still feeling the sting from our expereinces last summer, we went through most of this summer a little on edge. Still working to keep food on the table and bills paid has kept us from finding time to get away as a family. Instead, we've done our best to squeeze in little outings to local activities; a couple of games at PNC park (thanks to tickets earned through good grades in school), a day at the local amusement park, time at the near by park, and a couple backyard fires scattered here and there. Fun and memoriable, yes. What we had hope to do this summer as a family, not quite. So getting back to life as usual comes with the hope of something to look forward to in the "new" school year.

Now we're down to the last two weeks of the summer. This first week, back to routine. Next week, the real life adjustment of school buses, homework, and looking for sharpened pencils. Then Labor Day. After that, well, we'll just have to wait and see.

- jay