oh, back to school

It's back to school time, folks! And you know what that means. There are things to do, emails to check, calendars to print, and dates to block out. It's the same routine every year. Once you get through the list, then you sit back and wait for the bus email to come letting you know what time to be ready. 

The backpack and school supplies were shockingly easy this year. A white Adidas backpack won't stay white for long, but she loves it. All supplies were collected from what we had, Dollar Tree, and Walmart. And, of course, we have an entire extra bag for the locker shelf, all the cute magnets, a dry erase board and a mirror. Supplies DONE.

Next comes the declutter. We went through drawers, dressers, and closets to get rid of the old to prepare for the new. We now have a good idea of just how many black leggings one actually needs. I am pleased to say that our love of jeans HAS returned, as well as the ripped to shreds look 🤣 Clothes/accessories restock DONE.

Now for the food. Oh, yes. In this house food gets its own back to school category! We hit Costco today and we have breakfast foods for months. We have juice boxes and lunch snacks. We have meal ideas because someone I know never can pack just a regular sandwich. All the thermos, snack containers, and matching refillable bags are cleaned and reachable. Food DONE.

Now I am off to print calendars and activities. Just waiting for the bus email and a schedule! Here is to hoping her last year of middle school is amazing. We are prepared, informed and she will be well dressed (priorities!). I hope everyone's back to school transitions run smoothly and everyone has a safe and fun year!

May is the new December

Oh My... May is here and the flowers are blooming, temps are going up, and so is my to-do list creating. I truly forgot about the May frenzy until a few weeks ago and then BAM. It hits you like a ton of bricks. 

The sunscreen has hardly been pulled out and applied when the emails begin. Tryouts. End of year field trips. Buy your ____ now at our pre-summer pricing! Sports physicals. Registration for next year. Seriously??? I will have her registered before the last day of school and inevitably, it will be a rigamarole of finding the right documents to verify that our address of FIVE YEARS is indeed correct.

Add to that the ever growing list of needs to satisfy a modern day pre-teen:

-I am out of concealer

-I need new ripped jean shorts, but not THOSE. I need MORE rips.

-Where is the white paint? And scissors? And tape? How did we run out of tape???

Despite the chaos, we take it all in stride and I relish tossing all those post-its with the firey passion of an NBA player at play-offs. This year got ahead of me, though. I forgot who I was and what month it was. I got inundated and overwhelmed and may have lost it unknowingly at work. After some deep breathing and a quick apology, I simply opened the emails, calendars, texts, and began writing it all down because we all know avoiding the unavoidable is a terrible idea.

In just a few short weeks it's goodbye to 6th grade. Clubs will be over, registration will be complete, passes are purchased, summer plans are set in stone, and then it's easy street. We will spend June, July and part of August making memories, eating all the ice cream, and reapplying sunscreen. Bring it on! You can't make lemonade without a few lemons and for now, that's okay.

back to the bus!

A lot of people did a lot of things to get our kids back to school safely. Some kids are staying home and some are heading to school. Those who are heading back may be taking the bus. This is the first thing I think of when I think of my kid on a bus! Why are people in such a rush when they could just leave earlier or be more patient?

We are so lucky that we got the same bus driver as last year. He is a wonderful man that is kind and patient with the kids. He addresses them by name and always makes us laugh. My daughter's best friend is e-learning so she doesn't have a bus bestie any more. Our bus driver switched her seat so she can sit near another girl her age.

Make sure you thank a bus driver this year!

back to school attitudes

My favorite time is around the corner. Back to school shopping is so much fun. All the colorful notebooks and post-its signify all the fresh, new starts. The lovely lines on the notebook leave room for notes, lists, hopes, and dreams. Fresh pens and pencils with cute designs... we love it!!!

However, this upcoming school year is going to be interesting. We plan to buy all the supplies. We even have masks in various styles, colors, and patterns. We all have one for each school or work day. We are looking forward to 4th grade with a cool new backpack and a positive attitude.

We have practiced wearing masks,  discussed decorum, and questioned who future teachers will be. We have discussed how things will be different this year. I hope PE with masks will be effective. I hope the sparkle and shine of a new year will still be the norm despite social distancing and masks. I hope my school loving, smiley little lady will still have the thirst for learning and the excitement for new experiences and new knowledge.

The funniest part of it all is the school supplies list. We are only required to buy ONE notebook and it has to be red. So all those lovely unicorn notebooks, funny emoji notebooks and glittery notebooks get put aside for red. Plain old red. The most disappointed face I have ever seen is when I read the list and said, "One red notebook." And she said, "No! Can't you call someone? Maybe they will let me try another color!"

THIS IS GOING TO BE A GOOD SCHOOL YEAR! We are going to make it that way no matter what. If the only glitch we have is a disappointment for a red notebook, then it is going to be okay! And, of course, we made a red mask to match the red notebook :)

homeschooling

Now that the world has put itself on hold, people are getting pushed to their limits. One thing we need to think about is education. My daughter went to her google classrooms tonight to see what the teachers posted for her. She actually enjoyed it!

There was no messing around. Art, Music, and PE each have their own classes with work to do. She gets to create her own animated gif for art, watch YouTube clips with questions for music, and workout for PE. She actually did mountain climbers and burpees in the living room! And she is 9! That is usually the part of a workout that I skip ;)

I enjoy the fact that she is able to be self-sufficient. She knows that when she finishes her work, we read for 20 minutes and "school" is done for the day. She played math games, practiced piano, and did puzzles... all on a computer!

We have a STEM seminar scheduled and a live fossil lab to watch through the Burpee Museum. 

I got us a new 500 piece puzzle and loaded YouTube with 30 minute workouts for us. We got toilet paper, medicine, and baking supplies. What else could some quarantined girls ask for? I am looking forward to sewing and slime and burpees or whatever else she needs to do to stay educated and entertained.

The world may be in a bad place, but we have smiles, positive attitudes, and lots of stuff to do to stay home. Stay safe, folks. Stay happy. Negativity breeds faster than germs. Keep your chins up and if all else fails, try burpees :)

back to school colds...

First, I got my back to school cold. I get it every year and I should know better. How long have I been teaching? I'm not new here! I walked around for 2 days carrying a half gallon of orange juice and taking the good stuff every 4 hours like clockwork. Now my daughter has caught the back to school cold. She has asthma so the slightest cough and sniffle are enough to freak anyone out because that can turn into pneumonia in a flash. She roughed it through school today, but tonight she got really wheezy and we called it. I just put in for a sub and made a to do list so that I can be productive on my day off. Is it just me or do other moms feel the need to get stuff done on a sick day to make it justified????? I will spend the day watching girly movies with the sick princess and struggling to get all the girl scout badges on correctly. Grading papers, running the Swiffer and an in house work out are on the back burner. We will wait and see how snuggly my sick girl will feel. Stay strong and stay safe out there, mamas! Start buying vats of orange juice and Robitussin because I heard it's going to be a rough winter. Grrr....

First days of school

Day one has come and gone for my daughter's first day of 3rd grade. She is in a new school with a brand new teacher. She has a brand new backpack and big girl shoes. We took extra care picking out the outfit and doing her hair. Despite all that, all she could say about her first day of school is that she didn't learn anything! Most kids would be jumping from the rafters. My kid expects homework and full lessons on day one. You have to give her credit for that go-get-em positive thinking. We will see what happens when she enters middle school!