Ever since my older son was born I have been looking forward to him going to kindergarten. Relax! I'm kidding! In all honesty, kindergarten did hold a certain appeal to me for a variety of reasons. First of all, I just loved kindergarten myself and I was looking forward to my son being able to experience it. Second, can we just say the bus? Yes, I know that a lot of parents don't like the bus. In fact, reactions to the bus seemed to be almost on the same level as formula feeding. However, in our town, all the kids go to one big kindergarten only school and the buses therefore are kindergarten only buses. My child would get to have a wonderful time at kindergarten, and I wouldn't need to drive him. What else could I ask for?
In the middle of the summer, we found out that he got off the waitlist for full day kindergarten. Seeing as getting a spot in full day kindergarten is like winning the lottery, I quickly accepted it and hoped that our lines hadn't been taped. Who knows who may have tried to impersonate me and deny the acceptance so their child could get in off the waitlist! I'm kidding! But we did quickly accept the spot.
The morning of the first day of kindergarten came this week. All of the sudden instead of being the relaxed Zen mom, alright I'm not ever really that, I was rushing around the house trying to get lunch packed, the backpacked packed, the name tag found etc. Basically stuff I thought I had prepared for the night before but actually putting it together took forever. I got him off without a problem but had used the time I normally prepare for our day to prepare for kindergarten so my younger son and I were over a half hour late to meet friends at the park. Yes, I used to run late all the time when they were babies, but for the past year and a half or so I'm pretty much always on time.
The afternoon came and all of the sudden it was just my younger son and me. He didn't have his brother to play with him. That meant I needed to do it. Sure, I play with my kids every day, but not the whole afternoon. Late afternoon came, and we had a bus mishap: my older son was put on the wrong bus. It was his birthday too. Everything ended up being fine, but I put on my best performance ever to not act as a panicked mother and freak out my kids and everyone else's.
The next day was pretty much a repeat of the day before except fortunately everything went well with the bus and I didn't have an hour worth of forms to fill out like I had the previous evening. I went to bed at 8:30 pm which is early for me. Friday was the last day. This time I sent in a lunch ticket. Again, pretty much the same as the day before had been.
Last night my husband commented on how tired I looked. I commented on how exhausted I felt. There was no denying that I was just wiped out from the week. I know that it will get better. I know that when I no longer have a birthday cake in my fridge my son and I can put together his lunch the night before so at least that will be better. I think what I was just so surprised by was that I was on major mom mode the whole day. I did even touch on getting him to Tae Kwon Do this week or the fact the my husband had two soccer coaching meetings this past week in the evening.
Somehow I had foolishly thought that I had made it past the rough part of parenting schedules only to realize that things had just shifted. It's like when you think that when your child is out of diapers that you'll suddenly have all this money when in fact the money is just being spent differently like on swim lessons and/or preschool.
Words of advice from any of you seasoned moms out there? I would greatly appreciate it. For the record, my younger one will be starting preschool two afternoons a week in a couple weeks.
Yeah, September is major transition month every year. And the older they get, the more activities so the busier you get. My youngest was sudddenly, like yours, looking for action from me; every year she needed a transition time of her own till she went off to Kindergarten. All you can do is more of what you're already doing: prepare for each day as much as you can the night before. Know September will be hard and that it'll always take a a few weeks to get used to the newness of each school year and what it brings, for you and your kids.
The older they are, the less physically demanding, but the more psychologically and emotionally draining it gets. So by the end of the day you can be exhausted.
But what a poignant and exciting time! Congrats.
Posted by: Maureen@IslandRoar | September 05, 2009 at 06:10 PM
Try to get things done during the day. After school, homework and organized activities will take up alot of time - especially if your trying to prepare supper as well. I try to prepare mine in the afternoon so that it's less I have to rush to do in the evening - just reheat. And make the crock pot your friends.
Lay things out the night before- clothes, lunches, make sure the bag is packed and ready to go - makes it much easier!
September is a huge adjustment - there are schedules and homework and earlier bedtimes. It seems like you can ease into it, but it's more like jumping into cold water with both feet. There is no transition no matter how hard you try.
Posted by: whirl_wind | September 06, 2009 at 04:33 AM
I don't have much advice since my kids aren't in school. But, all that work you think will go away when the kids start to get older? You are right to realize that it doesn't go away, it just changes. Putting together my kids' 'activity' schedule is like trying to put together a complicated jigsaw puzzle and there are days we will be literally running from one thing to another.
Posted by: Fairly Odd Mother | September 06, 2009 at 10:37 AM
Alex, you aren’t going to like this, but Welcome to the World of Barely Gettin’ By. Maureen & WhirlWind are right - do as much as you can the night before, and begin your love affair with your crockpot NOW!
Three things that have saved my ass since I had kids is making lists (daily, weekly, monthly), keeping a calendar on hand at ALL times, and being very awake and productive at 11:42 p.m. (but I pay for that in the mornings!)
Think of it like a year-long rollercoaster ride. It starts out fast and with a big drop into September with back-to-school, lulls in October, and then picks up speed through Halloween, Thanksgiving, and onto through Christmas and New Year’s. Winter seems to even things out, then it picks up speed in the spring, rushs through May into June when school lets out, and then there’s a month or two to catch your breath before it all starts up again!
BTW, LOVE the bus! The alternative is dealing with the PITAE (Pain-In-The-Ass Entitled) parents at drop-off and pick-up, so we’re all about the bus!
Posted by: WorkingMom | September 18, 2009 at 12:35 PM
I don't have advice, because I'm behind you on the ball, but you're doing great. I can't wait until you have those afternoons so that you can choose to take a nap or relax...between all your committee meetings that is ;)
Posted by: Sally HP | September 22, 2009 at 03:53 PM