Back to school marks the end of summer for me, like it does for most people. I'm feeling a tad melancholy -- not because the kids went back, it has to do with how quickly the summer came and went.
I do not recall feeling like January and February flew by.
I have now declared the first day of school as my New Year. Like my sister who made summer resolutions, I have made back-to-school ones. It makes perfect sense really, I don't know why I didn't start doing it sooner. I want the transition to go smoothly because I do not want lunches, extra-curricular activities and bedtime to start annoying me.
Here's my plan:
1.No drinking until Thanksgiving. After a summer of barbecues, cottages, girls nights and birthdays, I need to do this.
2.Make lunches the night before. As I write this, I know it's not going to happen, wishful thinking.
3.Plan meals-the girls will learn to like one pot wonders. Please girls. Just eat what I make.
4.No housework during the hours of 9-3. Working from home makes it very tempting to start cleaning up "just a little", which turns into an hour. I must relegate this chore to nighttime and weekends.
5.Read to the kids after school-bedtime is too late.
6.Know when the P.A. days are. To say I am unorganized is an understatement. Too many times last year I hauled the girls to the bus in the morning only to realize it wasn't coming.
7.Do not ask the kids what they want in their lunch. Invariably, one of my three girls will rebuke my lunch menu. I am no longer taking orders for lunch, it's the same for all. Four days into the new school year and there has been some very positive fallout from my new approach; my oldest is making her own. One down two to go.
8. Lice prevention. I'm convinced tea tree oil and lavender saved me from an infestation last year. Having had a child get lice, I will do anything to prevent it coming home again. "Don't share hats" should be my bumper sticker.
9. Do not bribe your youngest when she suddenly "loses her power" on the way to the bus stop. Do not start doing some bizarre song and dance because you desperately want her to get on the f%@# bus.
Like many resolutions, I already know some of these are too difficult for me to adhere to. If I look at my list, I really only feel confident about six and eight. The first one seems aggressive. Number two I am already not doing. I tried number three last night, and everyone started crying. Number four is annoying because I want to do nothing in the evenings. My fifth resolution is tricky because we do extra-curricular activities after school. Number seven? It's too early to tell. I'm going to say I have no hope on the ninth one. I basically just shrunk my list down to two.
I am hopeless. I think what this tells me is that I need help -- in the form of an assistant, maid, nanny and personal chef. That would make everything jolly.
Should I just throw in the towel? Accept a little chaos?
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