The best is yet to come

Ah yes…today is an important day. It is the first day of school for so many kids. My daughter Marissa is going into Senior Kindergarten (5 year old K) and so this is not as traumatic as last year when she was so little and it was her first official day of school ever. Honestly, I am just excited about getting things back to normal in our lives. I absolutely love the summer but we are so much busier and there is no real schedule for anything!

We really should train to become marathon runners because all we seem to do is run around all summer. This weekend for example was an insane schedule. Friday night had my in-laws over for dinner which was nice. Saturday we had a street BBQ which was a wonderful way to catch up with neighbours but it was 11pm before the kids fell into bed. Sunday we had a 5th birthday party to attend and then another BBQ that night. And then thank god Monday was a holiday so we could all sleep in and relax!! See what I mean? I am excited that with the beginning of school comes order and routine. We stay home, eat dinner and have a bath during the week and then it is early to bed with little hassle. Ok so that would be too perfect – but it is close to that.

I have found it is so different when one has little kids. I am a person who is always on the go and I have always been like that. My poor kids have been “portable” from the day they were born. I remember with both kids I was out and about with them grocery shopping when they were two weeks old. I have always prided myself on being able to bring my kids with me no matter what I did. But is that really what they want? They are 2 and 5 now and some days they just want to stay home and play Barbies. They don’t want to go to Walmart, then Ikea and then stop in for a quick visit at Grandma’s. They want to stay still. It has taken me quite a few years to realize that my preferred pace is not necessarily theirs. When they are cranky or bold or tired, it usually takes me a few minutes to realize that we have been away from home all day and they are zonked. Now I try to look at my day and decide what has to be done and what running around can wait. We are home a lot more which pays off for both of us. It means I can have some play time with them or if they are busy then I can get things done that I wouldn’t have done because I was out.

So what am I trying to say? I am happy to be back into a routine because sometimes I am my own worst enemy. I just want to cuddle up on the couch after supper with everyone all ready for bed and let my kids beat me at Candyland!