Oh, Yeah, That's Why

A couple of weeks ago, some moms I know were complaining about school starting back. They felt like summer had been really short and they weren't ready to send their kids back yet.

I'm not one of those moms. I am also not one of those moms who is thrilled about school starting. I'm in the middle. There are things I like about the kids being in school and things I don't like. And now, with my mom keeping the girls after school, instead of afterschool programs, I would see very little difference in my day-to-day life. Or so I thought.

Now that we are well into week 2, let me tell you something: I am so, so wrong. So, so often.

There are still a lot of positives to school going again. For starters, routine. Kids (and mommies by proxy) thrive on routine. For another thing, earlier nights. It's so much easier to avoid things when you have to get the kids to bed on time. Finally, there is the fact that my children happen to love school. It makes them happy. When the screaming kiddos are happy and less screamy, the world is happy and less screamy.

But okay, downsides. First of all, routine. Despite the fact that we all work better when we are in one, getting back into one is a little like trying to cut steak with a spoon (slow going and frustrating). I swear, I'm going to lose my mind before I get them back to the point where they do all their nighttime stuff without my constant reminding (read nagging).

Secondly, earlier nights. It's fine when I want out of something, but really sucky when I don't. Not to mention that sometimes I just can't get out of things. There's always this timing issue to balance. And it's usually not enough to get home before bed time, oh no, you have to get home an hour before bedtime if you want people to shower, brush their teeth, get their planners signed, lay out their clothes and be in bed by bedtime.

There is also homework. Despite the fact that Brynna has been looking forward to homework for the past month, it's still a constant battle to get it done. The reading log is particularly sad this year. Last year, I just had to initial that she had read. This year, she has to say what she's read and how many pages. Which means no more switching back and forth between eight books. Because I've got to be able to keep up and check.

Finally, there is the mornings. Every year, I forget how hard 5:45 is over the summer. I think it will be okay and I'll get used to it. Then it comes and I remember, oh yeah, this is how I feel the entire school year. This sucks.

And this year, there is car line. I mean, there's always car line, but for some reason, car line magically morphed into hell over the summer. I got there ten minutes early this morning and was still six groups back from the door. That's over 72 cars. I've been "on time" every other day and been almost late by the time we get to the door. This, my friends, this is the cause of road rage.

Ugh. School's back. I wish I was still naive enough to believe that this was a good thing.