You made it through the first week of school.

Isn’t amazing how quickly we adapt to change?

Getting back into the routine of the kids being back at school is a lot like getting on a bicycle after being off it for a long time; your body just remembers what to do.

Here we are at the end of the first week of school and once the initial anticipation of school was behind us, it was like the kids had been going to school all along (which, maybe is not a bad thing. I have heard rumblings about school all year round with shorter breaks in the summer).

Your body quickly remembered what it was like to get up at its normal hour…proceed to the kid’s rooms to get them
moving…get them dressed..get them breakfast…get their lunches prepared and be at school in time for the first bell.

I have been taking my younger daughter to school, since we have decided to pull her out of daycare (mostly at her request)..meaning there is no before or after-school care for her. So, she lingers a bit more at home now (while I am still working from home) and we then proceed to casually stroll around the corner to her school with lots of time to spare. When she meets up with her best friend, I usually say my goodbyes and return home to start my work day.

Parents are at the school…dressed in their work-duds…and seem to have smiles on their faces even though they appear to look rushed. They know they are back in the “zone” and that the slowed pace of the summer has given them just the right amount of energy and calm to get through the next few months until we reach our next break…Christmas holidays.

School supplies and requests for stuff by our kids have eased…they seem to have everything they need…for now. So, we parents are now at the stage where we can settle back into the old routine of school and all that it entails..including such things as after-school programs and extra-curricular activities on the weekends (my older daughter is starting basketball in October).

The weather has turned cool…like a light-switch has been turned off to signify that summer is really over and there seem to be little distractions reminding us of summer (other than fading suntans).

I have said in prior blogs that the end of summer and Labor Day always makes me feel a certain way…I get this strange feeling that I think stems from my own childhood…when summer was ending and back-to-school was beginning. Things just started to feel different.  The intensity of the sun didn’t feel like summer, the nights became cooler, the sun began to set sooner…unlike the days in June and July when the sun seemed to never set and I could play outdoors with friends until 9pm. But, once I got back into the routine of school…everything always seemed to get better.

So, congratulations on getting through the first week. You knew you could do it – you probably just didn’t want to. But, as we head into the first weekend after the return to the normal routine, just remember…it all starts again next week!