Keep your "zone" clean all day
"Brain work" before play
Healthy food before treats
One hour of video game time
Nothing too grandiose there. I know from experience not to aim too high in the summer.
But by the end of the summer we had sunk so. very. low. Here was our one goal:
Try to make it one hour, at some point during the day, without media. That's it. And oh! the anguish! The weeping and wailing during that one hour of torture!
Needless to say, I was READY for school to start again! We always stagger school start dates, so here they are in order of when they started back.
These two head off at 6:10 every morning for "A hour." Usually at 6:09 Savannah is telling Caleb she's going to leave without him if he doesn't hurry, and Caleb is finishing packing up his 5 PB&J sandwiches. I like to get myself up at 6:00 so I can at least send them off with a "Have a great day!"
Eli has been counting down for MONTHS until he could start preschool with Miss Becky! His cousin Emmett is in his class, as well as a couple of neighbors. There was not one ounce of hesitation or nervousness as he charged off to his first day of school! That boy is ready to take on the world!
Jonah is a sixth grader this year, but we're doing school online. I kept him at home second semester of last year, and he really thrived. This year we are stepping up our structure by doing online school, but it still feels nice and relaxed. AND he can take breaks to play basketball between every lesson!
JOSH IS IN HIGH SCHOOL THIS YEAR!!! It seems impossible to me, but it's true. He is at ALA, so he doesn't get to be with Savannah and Caleb, but I love ALA so much more than the public high school. Josh has some great friends there, and great teachers. I think it's going to be a good year!
My little Simon is in second grade. He couldn't figure out why I was walking him up to the school this morning. He said he could probably find where his new class lines up by himself. So I snapped a quick picture, and he headed off to the playground, happy and confident!
And I can't stand to leave Becca out of this post, even if she hasn't gone back to school yet! She has been home with us off and on this summer. Working full days in Thatcher for a couple of weeks, then home for a couple of weeks. Happily, she was home to celebrate her birthday yesterday. This girl is such a ray of sunshine! She is thoughtful, kind, inclusive, and happy. I could't possibly be happier or more proud of who she has become in these 19 years! We have to move her back into her apartment in Thatcher this week, but we sure have loved having her here! (Even if we had to clear out a little space for her "bedroom" in our storage room)
My days are busy. My brain is scattered in a million directions. My body is always tired. My wallet is stretched (a little) thin. But my heart is filled to overflowing! I can't get over how good life is right now! I'm in the middle of one of those little "bubbles" where everything feels so perfect and so fulfilling. I know that life is like a roller coaster, and there will be hard times coming again, but right now Jeff and I keep talking about how wonderful this moment in time is for us.
I am grateful for moments.
