If you are like me, and have more than one, two or three kids that just started a new school, then I know your mind is spinning. AROUND and AROUND and AROUND.
It is officially fall. Breezy and beautiful as the leaves start to take their place on the ground while our mommy minds are going crazy. Why is there never a season for moms to just relax? We have one day a year that allows us that time in May, while our husbands seem to have an entire summer off from life, to have a little less workload, a little more play, as we get anxious to fill up our fall schedules with every activity known on the planet earth.
If you are a full day “newbie” like me, you may have just entered the unchartered territory – kindergarten. Luckily, I have entered it doubletime. I have boy/girl twins who now RULE THE WORLD.
There were only a few weeks between summer camp and family fun that I had to decompress, which never really happened. And while I admitted to many of you how much I hated summer as I was so HOT 24/7, it was slower paced and I was able to get SOME things done. No one told me that this was a prelude to spending my life for the next nine months in a mini-van? If I knew I would have embraced a few more hot days on the beach and maybe not have complained!
I would have sat in a folding chair taking in the rays as my kids threw sand on me. I would have researched a plan on my iPad while covered in popsicle juice, leased a mobile trailer with a bed, flat-screen, mini-bar, living room and gym (if that exists) as I now spend my entire day in my car. I would need an office too, or at least a table with a computer. Then, in the free moments I found to breath or take a bathroom break between pick-ups I would throw a Coffee Pod in the Trailer Kueriq and pretend I am in Starbucks. It would be beneficial if my coffee bar was in my mobile home as well.
All of the sudden the Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round and I am WIDE AWAKE. Waking up at what feels like 3 AM to get my kids ready for the bus, drop off, carpool and more…..and then I drive around all day picking up mini-hitchhikers with colorful backpacks filled with shopkins, who have no appreciation you are taking them on a journey throughout a kiddie playland….a world of adventure. They have no thanks unless you bring orange crunchy fish they then mush in your car.
So for those moms out there who just entered the world of the school bus, here are some tips: Please feel free to comment and share your own to help us all make our lives a bit more well rounded as we get lost in the leaves of fall.
1) Have a breakfast chart ready in the am with 2 options
When you ask your kids what they want for breakfast and they reply “WHAT DO YOU HAAAAVE”? Just say, the same thing since you were born! PICK One….NEXT!
2) Pick out outfits the night before.
All of the sudden kindergarten matters. Our preschool combo of mismatched colors no longer exists and every outfit is to perfection. Get this done the night before to save you from chaos at 7 AM! It’s not yet Prom, but mornings I feel like I am getting ready.
3) Carpool is chaos!
If you want to see your preschool mom friends – set up a MOM carpool when kids are at school so you can take one another to do kiddie errands as you catch up. Otherwise, no one will ever see anyone again…ever.
4) Set your iphone alarm
coordinate a bell per child and your friends children, so you never forget a child, your childs friend, a carpool pick up or anything for that matter. When in doubt, just drive around town at 4 PM until your corresponding alarm goes off so you know what your daily assigment is!
5) Be prepared for a kiddie over-haul, especially if you have a daughter.
All of the sudden your kindergartners rule the house, the neighborhood, the world — accept it and move on. Go to Claires. Buy all of the plastic jewels in site and accept that this is now your life.
6) Set a timer in your house for the morning.
Every 5 minutes a different sound will go off and this will begin a new task, until everything is complete and all of the kids are out the door.
7) Then we can collapse and it is only 7:30 AM!
Let’s admit it moms, the wheels on the bus go round and round and this is ONLY the beginning…and I wish you all the best as we enter this world of the unkown that starts with 6 wheels that spin and will never stop….until…well ever!!!! But we love every moment.