End of Summer 2015

You know when you are at an awesome party and you are having a great time.  The vibe is good, the people are chill.  Your favorite music is playing in the background, and there is an bottomless bowl of Sun Chips.  You take a drink from your red Solo cup and feel a wave of happiness wash over you.  You start to think, “This is the best time EVER!  I am never going to leave!”

As the night wears on, people start to drink a little too much and things start to get out of hand.  People start breaking shit and hitting each other.  You look around at the chaos, dumbfounded.  “What the hell happened?” you wonder.  “We were all just getting along and having so much fun.”

That’s August.

I would be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous before summer began.  The season can be brutally long, especially August.  And in the past, I feel morelike a cruise director than a mom.

This summer has been different.  It’s been easy.  Actually, it’s been the best summer that I can remember in the history of summers (although the summer between 9^th and 10^th grade when I went to Disney World for a dance competition and Cedar Point with my friend would be a close second).

The kids have been getting along and having fun with each other.  They have found their groove, and I am convinced that they love each other again.  (It was unclear if this was true during the last part of winter and throughout spring).

Even grocery shopping has been drama free.  I can get in and out of two stores in under an hour.  That is unheard of for me.  I feel like I should drop my mike every time we leave the store.  

We’ve had a good run, hanging out together all day and pushing the bedtime envelope later and later.  But it’s getting close to the time when we need to leave the party before gets totally out of hand.  I feel like we are one more late night bedtime away from having a full-out meltdown, similar to the meltdown had by the ladies of Real Housewives of New York in season 3 at Scary Island. 

I may find myself screaming this at 2:30 in the afternoon.

via GIPHY

The break from routine has been much needed, but we need it back.  Now.  Before the Best Summer Ever goes up in flames.

via GIPHY

End of Summer

This is it, the end of summer.  Usually, I am so thankful for the beginning of the school year. 

Even though I am required to pack Marie her lunch every day and take Thomas to preschool a few times a week, it feels like a break.  Probably because I'm not monitoring the delicate balance between how many episodes of Full House (Marie's show) versus how many episodes of Annoying Orange (Thomas's show) were watched at one time while frantically trying to get school work done.

But I do not feel this intense relief that summer is over.  In fact, I am sad since I wasn't savoring this season.  Between moving and accepting additional responsibilities in an already new job, I felt that I was balancing more than normal.  I have written a few posts at Detroit News MichMoms about these feelings here and here.  
   

I never felt like I struck the right balance; it felt more like a seesaw.

We went from this extreme

Pool time at the gym before swim lessons

Pool time at our neighborhood pool

To this extreme

Unlimited amounts of screen time.  Breakfast in front of the TV? Yes.
Lunch while the TV is on? Absolutely. When asked about Marie's
screen time at her well checkup, I may have just added up the hours
and divided by two to get a more desirable number.

Because of this

I got this all worked out, and now will proudly update my LinkedIn profile with
PowerPoint presentations as my new super power.

What can I say – this summer was all about transitions and none of them were seamless.  I felt it was extremely challenging to be present, and I torment myself with guilt that I could not focus more on the kids for the finite amount of time they are home for the summer.  However, here is a positive thing I can say about summer: it was so fast and furious that I think the beginning of the school year will feel easier.

How are you feeling about the end of summer?  Are you excited?  Sad?

The Daily School Routine

Um, I’m not sure if you noticed, but the first day of November begins next week.  When did that happen?  It seems like just last week I was getting ready for the first day of school, and now it’s days before Halloween with Thanksgiving sneaking up very soon.

Even though the leaves have been changing colors and I’ve been indulging in everything pumpkins spiced (except coffee creamer because that tastes how I would imagine pumpkin spice scented soap from Bath and Body Works would taste like), I feel like I have finally settled into a routine. Part of the reason may be because Harrington has been traveling a lot or maybe time just seems to be moving that fast.  Who knows?

What I do know is that after this *supposed* last day of mild weather, any remnants of summer will be gone, and with it, so are the days of sleeping in until 8am (which is the equivalent of sleeping in until noon since before that my kids were waking up at 6:00am) and not having to urgently rush to some place.  There will be no more ice cream on the swing set as the sun sets.  Week-long family vacations adventures will be on hiatus, too.

But the pressure of managing two kids all. damn. day. is gone, too.  I won’t be stressing about my lack of motivation to do something other than turn on the TV because the weather is so hot.  (I try not to complain about the weather and find the good in each season as I wrote here at the Detroit News MichMoms blog, but I have learned that heat and humidity sucks my will do anything faster than any cold snap).

However, as the very wise man Jerry Seinfeld once said, “You can’t have the this without the that.”  The tradeoff is getting up early to work out and making lunches.  It’s also kind of sad that I don’t see my babies all day, and I find myself reminiscing about the days of being on lockdown due to the nursing/nap schedule.

I need to be honest, and I know this might not be in line with the popular consensus, but I’m OK with getting up early and having to be at the bus stop at a certain time; it keeps me motivated.  What can I say, I thrive on a deadline.

I may not see Marie all day, but I try to make the time we spend together count, whether it’s when we do homework or driving to swim.  Because going to school all day and exploring outside interests is the natural order of things, I really stress quality over quantity.  Also, I am able to have some valuable one-on-one time with Thomas, which he really needs right now.

I am sure that when June rolls around I will be more than ready to ditch the schedule for new adventures.  I can also promise with great certainty that I will be excited for September when balance is then restored.

What do you think about your school routine?  Love it?  Hate it?