Back to school musings ...

After reading a blog that my friend Christina posted -- I thought it would be somewhat therapeutic for me to do.

Some of my thoughts on going back to school ( sorry for stealing your idea -- but boy oh boy!!)

• I am so NOT a MORNING person!! NEVER HAVE BEEN, and I only get out of bed grudgingly -- but I've set a great goal for myself this school year and really hope to achieve it. Simply put -- Get my kids to school before the bell rings and not allow them to be tardy. If you know me and the habits the last few years -- saying it was a bit of a challenge would be the understatement of the year!!! So they have been early the last 2 and half weeks.
• The amount of "things" that each child seems to need just gets CRAZY!! I don't mind supplying my child with things that he/she will solely use -- and maybe donating $20.00 for the school year but WOW!! Having to buy all these items for more than one kid -- of which I don't usually just "have on hand" because if I do have it on hand it quickly gets used .... like crayons, or markers, or .....
• I do like that the kids get to make friends and meet new people and are really excited about school, but all these new friends may live all over Utah County so actually being able to set up a "play time" is almost impossible, especially since there isn't any time.
• Once my kids get home from school ( which means I drive over and pick them up) it's usually 3:45pm and in just an hour from then my DH comes home from work and we try to have dinner by 5:30 at the latest. Well -- trying to oversee that homework is getting done and getting dinner ready at the same time --- and having a crying 17 month old lingering near me at all hours of the day makes it quite hard to "multi-task" so dinner usually gets done late because I haven't yet learned how to get it started SOONER!! What a concept I know -- but I just can't get it to click in my own head just yet. So we try and get homework done right after school and then we try and have dinner all in the midst of listening to the kids whine and complain about how they don't have time to "play" almost makes me want to "CRY" -- but hey -- do I really get to PLAY?? Not quite!!
• And trying to make sure that all kids have done their required "READING minutes" is so exhausting -- the older two is not so bad but with the 1st grader it can be quite a challenge. She reads a little on her own but really when do I have that much time that I don't already feel like I'm going to fall asleep if I finally sit down for just a "FEW minutes?" So after dinner I try to get the dishes washed up but now always, so then we're almost off to start the bedtime thing which takes WAY TOO LONG!!! Sometimes I think I need a FREE live in NANNY!! I think it would be such a great help --- especially when I feel strapped for time!!
• MATH HOMEWORK!!! NEED I SAY MORE ??? Especially as parents we're required to check every page and sign the darn paper. Yes, I like to be involved but let me do it on my OWN time and in my OWN WAY and not on their terms. I hate signing all the "PAPERS" that they need signed. Simply I FORGET!! And why can't they just send out emails for heaven's sake -- they'd get it back almost immediately that way. COME ON!!
• And how come homework can't be explained a little more clearly?? My girls come home with things that they need to do and then they have no concept of how to do it and there isn't any instructions. What am I supposed to do -- So I send it back with a note that says we didn't know what to do could you please explain. Sorry teachers Contrary to what my kids say, I CAN'T read Minds.

Although with the start of school means that BYU FOOTBALL IS GOING STRONG AGAIN!! YEAH!!! Plus it's time to watch the COLTS play as well heck I just enjoy watching football period!!!