Back to School

Hard to believe that the school year has begun. My children are back to getting up early, packing their lunches, choosing their outfits (I guess that is a girl thing - the boys just get dressed), filling their backpacks, getting their hair done by themselves or me, eating breakfast, saying family prayer, scrubbing their teeth, and running out the door. It is a whirlwind! I always feel a moment of relief when the time has come for them to all walk out the door. We got it all done, and off they go. This year my youngest starts kindergarten, and will be leaving with the crowd starting next week. Kindergarten is what I like to call "pretend" school. It is too short to qualify for real school, and I have always wondered how they could get much done in class, because I don't have time to finish much at home before it is time to gather my kindergartener back from school.

In spite of all the chaos, I love fall and the beginning of school. It is another new beginning, full of possibilities for us all. We will be more organized this year, and more on top of the projects that need to be done. I have been saying that many times to myself, because I am starting classes tomorrow too. I will be taking a biology and physiology class, so I can get onto the nursing school waiting list in December. I have big plans to insure that all will be well. In spite of the fact that I have labs both Monday and Tuesday nights at 7 pm, and I will be teaching dance at BYU on Wednesday until 6:30 pm (my two girls will be in my classes), I will be on top of things and organized. I will make extra dinners on Saturday that can be refrigerated or frozen, that can be pulled out during the beginning of the week to make those days easier and less chaotic than they might be. I will get all my studying done while my children are still in school, so when they get home I can focus on their needs and not my own. I will still keep the house clean, and the bathrooms will not turn into the pit of despair. I will even still take time out for myself to read a relaxing book occasionally, or re-watch one of my favorite movies......Pride and Prejudice, or a Doris Day movie.

AND THEN...when all my resolve goes out the window, the bathrooms DO look like the pit of despair (no, I don't really know what that looks like, but it can't be good), and I didn't make extra dinners on Saturday and I am just not feeling like I can do one more thing before I run off to lab, we will have Macaroni and Cheese from a box, or the old stand by, Ramen Noodles, and my children and husband will like it just as well as they like the well planned, well thought out meals that I spent much more time on... or I may just look at Nathan and tell him that it's his turn to do dinner and the house, and he'll laugh and make dinner himself, because he is very able, capable, and happy to do it, and the children will clean the bathrooms because they can, and because it is their turn. And that will be ok too!