First Week of School Wrap-Up

We survived the first week of school.  "Survived" is overly dramatic.  Abby and Caroline both love their teachers, and I haven't met any resistance whatsoever getting ready for school or going to the bus stop.  Caroline has been waking up at 6am and wants to leave for the bus on or before 7am.  Abby isn't getting up quite as early, but is also anxious to leave for school, and she isn't even protesting her pre-school sunscreen application (which is really saying something).

Aside from the difficulty keeping of Ben entertained and out of trouble (my early alert system, a.k.a. Caroline, is gone), my only complaint is that the deluge of papers has begun.  I am resolved this year to promptly process all the paper that comes through the bookbags. But, since our school is going green, a lot of correspondence is coming electronically too.  So, now there are two separate "piles" to manage x 2 kids.  Plus, another bookbag's worth starts in 2 weeks.  It really is a lot of stuff -- some of which requires response or decisions or putting things on the calendar.  Other things need to be saved somewhere. Already the piles are growing and I worked so hard to whittle them down over the summer. I'm certainly not at the "overwhelmed" level yet since school has just started and the activities have not but I can see where we're headed.

Believe it or not, Abby has a project to do this weekend!  Homework on a holiday weekend?!  Ew. She will be preparing a writing idea packet, which is a large envelope that is supposed to be covered with and contain momentos and photos. Each of the included items will be used to jog her memory at school for ideas of fun things in her life (moments, memories, people, etc., to write about).  Unfortunately, since all the pictures I've taken since Ben was born are trapped on various camera cards or in the computer (sorry about not making you a baby book Ben), I also have some homework to do this weekend -- get some pictures printed!  While I know this idea envelope will be an important writing tool this year, I must admit that I don't feel like doing homework on a holiday weekend with absolutely perfect weather.  How old do I sound right now??  Like I'm back in grade school pouting about homework!  (I am outwardly pretending to be enthusiastic about this assignment to Abby so as not to corrupt her attitude towards school. But, she doesn't feel like doing homework yet either....she wanted to play outside.)

So we all procrastinated today. The kids had adventures outside all day with the neighbors while Scott and I tackled yet another overgrown area of the yard.  I keep thinking that surely we've found all the caches of invasive vines and volunteer saplings, but no, there are plenty left in the back.  On the productive side, we finally created a compost pile and started a wood pile. I dug out still more bittersweet vines. I will definitely sleep well tonight. 

And, tomorrow, I promise to get started on the homework.