Back in the saddle

We've been back in school for a week and a half (well, Adelaide has) and I am SO ready for our routine to be perfected and life to return to "normal."  Adelaide's teacher, Mrs. Collins, is wonderful and we are so very excited for this year!  Mrs. Collins is so structured and organized and that's just what Adelaide needed this year.  We are working on personal responsibility and taking care of your things.

That is exactly what prompted my mommy-meltdown this morning.  I've been really proud of myself the last couple of weeks.  I've had all of her clothes picked out and ready.  I've packed her lunch the night before and had everything ready and in her folder in her backpack.  Her responsibility is to get up (she got an alarm clock this year.... more on that later), make her bed and come downstairs.  I fix breakfast, she gets dressed and brushes her teeth.  Then she's supposed to get her backpack.  I don't think that's too much for an almost 7 year old!!!  Well,  I have to remind her everyday to get her backpack... and it's hanging on a hook by the back door!  I know I know, she's only gone to school for 8 days, but still!!!  That's your only job... get your backpack!

So, after gently reminding her to get her back pack *again* I get everyone buckled to pick up our neighbor for carpool.  I stop at our stop sign only to see Lucy's BRAND NEW pair of Uggs that my mom sent her YESTERDAY!!!  She's worn them exactly 1 time and they were left outside overnight.
I'll take a moment to tell you I've been reading the book "Unglued" by Lysa Terkuerst (I have no idea if that's spelled right).  I think I've been doing better at being calm and gentle and choosing my actions, but for the experience we had this morning, I need a sequel called, "Un-super-glued."  Because it was ugly, folks.  Really ugly.  I like things to be orderly and calm and I like for everyone to have responsibility for their own things and their own spaces... and that's not really happening.  At all.
I feel like I'm doing the work of 12 people and the least you could do IS PICK UP YOUR BRAND NEW BOOTS AND TAKE THEM INTO THE STINKING HOUSE!!!!!  *deep breath*  That deep breath was supposed to calm me, instead I used it to take another breath and light into them about how I need help and that they need to be picking up their stuff and remembering their backpack and putting away their laundry.... on... and on.... and on.  Fail.  Again.

So, I'm making progress, imperfect progress.  But progress.

I apologized for flipping out, but asked them to PLEASE for the love of mankind and all things in this world that are good, pick up your shoes!

I even sent Adelaide's teacher an email and told her that I acted like a crazy person this morning and I was regretting it and would she please give Adelaide an extra pat on the back today?

Okay, there.  I feel better.

I told Lucy that since she wasn't taking care of her shoes, I was thinking of making her wear the same pair of shoes for a whole week (that's like serious torture for my shoe-loving Lucy).   I told her at the end of the week, if she was learning to take care of her things, I would let her have her other shoes back.  She responded with, "will I get any money?"  Um, no.  This isn't a reward... it's a consequence.  I don't know if I'll stick with that since she obviously doesn't understand the connection of the two.
Lucy and Julianne met their teachers yesterday and we are so excited for this year!  I know Lucy and Julianne are very excited to start, too.  They aren't understanding why Adelaide gets to go to school and they don't.

So, as far as routines and schedules... they're coming.  And I'm oh so ready to embrace them.

Back to school time! Schedules and goals

Well, it's almost that time of year again!  Back to school time!  I love this time of year!  Not just because it means I get a little bit of a break while my kids are in school (although, I admit, I'm a little excited about that.... it's been a busy summer!) but I've always thought that the hype of buying school supplies and a new backpack and lunchbox is so much fun!  And my girls get SO excited about meeting their teachers and their new friends!!!  It's just very exciting!
Plus, it means fall is soon to come, which is my favorite season!  Fall means pumpkin (do you guys know how much I love pumpkin everything?), football (I loved football season before I lived in a football state, so now it's even more fun!), cool evenings but warm enough days to play outside, leggings (I hope this leggings trend never gets old... it's like wearing sweats all the time), soup, chili nights, family time and beautiful leaves.  I can't wait.  Okay, that's enough wishing my life away.
But for reals, it is so much fun to live through Adelaide's excitement!  Lucy and Julianne are excited, too, but Adelaide meets her teacher on Friday and starts first grade on Monday, so right now is her time!  She seriously checked the mail 100 times the last several days waiting on her teacher letter!  She was so disappointed when it didn't come as expected!  When she read her letter, her eyes just beamed!   She has Mrs. Collins.  She doesn't know anything about Mrs. Collins, but she is thrilled to just know her name!  It's fun to get on facebook and find out who all is in her class! Remember when we were kids and we had to wait and look around or call everyone to find out who's in our class!?  Well, thank goodness for facebook!  I knew within minutes that Adelaide had several friends in her class!!!
I know this is going to be a great year! I can't believe Adelaide is a first grader!  This is almost more shocking than Kindergarten!  Kindergarten still sounds sort of little... but FIRST grade!?  When did that happen!?
So, this week, our last week of summer with all the kiddies home, we are making the best of it!  Monday was super busy for me, but Jason took the girls to eat at Tip Top Grill and to run and play in the park.  Tuesday we went to the zoo with Hope, Braden and Brooks.  They drove all the way from Florence to play with us.  We had a great day!!!
Today we are hitting McWane with Amilia and Bella, Adelaide's friends from 4K, tomorrow we have a playdate with Ayla, Adelaide's most favorite friend from Kindergarten (she's also in Adelaide's first grade class, and I couldn't be more excited because her mama and I also became good friends over the last year.  Friday, we meet Adelaide's teacher!!  I mean, really, what a fun week!
I am so thankful for a summer with my kiddos, but we really operate better on a schedule.  Here is my hope, plan and dream for this school year.  I love to be organized.  Sometimes my yearning to be organized doesn't actually last into staying organized.  A lot of being organized, at least for me, is finding a system that works for us.  So, sometimes I spend what seems like forever creating a system and then I figure out that it doesn't really work well for us.  That is disappointing, but I'm doing better at realizing that we just have to move on to something else if that doesn't work.
So, what I'm PLANNING for the school year is to prepare a lot in the afternoon.  I don't do nights. I'm an early bird. But I don't really get moving all that fast in the mornings anymore.  Here's my reasoning.... hear me out.  Julianne's room is right next to our bedroom.  I love it this way because when she was tiny, we didn't have to worry about stairs when she got up during the  night.  It's still fine, but I don't really love how light of a sleeper she is.  She wakes up at the beep of the coffee pot or the wood creaking when we walk.  And now that she's in a regular bed, she is up as soon as she hears us stirring.  You would think the third child would sleep through everything.  You know we haven't been quiet for her... but she is a light sleeper... sometimes I don't think that's something you can "unlearn."  All that to say, since she wakes up so easily, it makes the early morning prep less helpful.  It doesn't do me a lot of good to wake up 2 hours before everyone else to pack lunches and get ready when she's up as soon as my feet hit the floor.  So, my plan for this year is to get my lunch prep, backpack prep and clothes picked out in the afternoon.  I'm going to try this for awhile.  I think making lunches during the dinner prep is probably the best time for me.  I'll already be bustling around in the kitchen, but it's before I'm exhausted.  When I get the kiddos to bed, I'm done.  I mean, like hit the couch as soon as I get downstairs, done.  So, I think afternoon will work better for us.
My goal is to have backpacks loaded and clothes picked out the day before.  We started this last year, but by the end of the year, we were scrambling in the morning to find clothes and library books... I want to do better this year.  I don't want to rush every morning.  I want us to have a calm breakfast and a happy start to the day.  I'm still planning to get up early.  I don't like waking up with my children.  I like a few minutes with my coffee cup and my Bible before I see anyone and get bombarded with "I need a drink, what's for breakfast, Disney junior."
There, I wrote it down, so now I have to do it, right?  Afternoon prep... remind me to tell you how it's going.