That blessed day has arrived: the children are BACK IN SCHOOL! It is both wonderful and a pain…but from my point of view as a parent it is mostly wonderful. We had a great summer as a family. Our older two traveled a bit and were able to participate in multiple camps. Sam and I were able to travel a bit both with and without kids. The younger two participated in a few camps but  mainly kept things close to home. They were able to catch up on skills they were behind on in school and now they are super prepared for fourth grade.

As nice as it was to free-form most of our summer, our family operates better on a schedule with set routines. So BRING ON THE SCHOOL ROUTINE! Bring on all of it. The crazy carpool schedules, early release Wednesdays that are complete madness, the homework and tests and quizzes and projects and reading logs, the packing of endless school lunches (maybe my least favorite part of the school year), the yogurt-soaked lunch boxes (has this happened to you? Why does this keep happening? Fourth grade kids, I am looking at YOU), the late night runs to Target for poster board (again, why does this keep happening in my life? I even buy EXTRA poster board to alleviate this happening and it STILL happens), the washing of track and cross country uniforms, never having enough water bottles, lack of sleep, friend drama, flashcards, tears over music practice…

Wait.

Maybe this school routine is not quite that awesome…

Oh, but the ability to finally work again without being interrupted 3,717 times and pulled in umpteen directions during normal business hours? That IS awesome.

Thank you glorious teachers for teaching and helping to raise my brood. I could not do parenthood without you. Good luck this year…to all of us!