Challenge Accepted!!

I’m a melancholic temperatment. If you’re not sure what that is, I expained it in my last blog post with a pretty impressive chart 😁. I struggle with perfectionism. It takes me days, (up to a week sometimes), to write a blog post, because it has to be done right. “If you are going to take time to do something, do it right,” is what my dad would say. I suspect that he was melancholic as well.

Before I started blogging I googled info like how many words long should a blog post be (google recommends over 1000 words, fyi), and is there a better font to use, all because I wanted to do it right. Topics come to me but once I start writing, if something doesn’t read right, I rewrite it. If the point of view feels wrong, I rewrite it again. It takes time. Too much time 🤦🏾‍♀️.

After being lectured by my friend, and laughed at by my sister, I’ve decided to prove that I can write a blog post in only a few hours. Challenge on!

First Day back to School!!

This post was initially supposed to be about dropping my first kid off to college, but after I wrote the top 3 paragraphs, the ones about being able to write a blog in a few hours, I put it down to collect my thoughts, and didn’t get back to it until now.

First day back to school!! So my kids range in age from 18-6 years. Because of this the school routine varies by group.

Kid #1- College girl. She has all online classes this semester so she doesn’t have to leave her room, (bonus for her since she is so introverted.) She lives on campus so I am no longer responsible for feeding her, though when she comes home, I will make her sandwiches with her crusts cut off the way she likes it 😆. Jamie gives me crap for doing it but I will tell you this, 5 or 10 years from now when she has a child of her own, she will think of me every time she makes that kid a sandwich and has to cut the crust off 😝.

Kid #2 and #3 – High Schoolers. These two girlies have to get their butts out of bed by 7am, to get ready to leave the house by 7:45. They have about a 15 minute walk, and school starts at about 8:10 I think. I still pack their lunches, even though I packed my own by the time I was their age. I think I need step back and let them do it themselves, that way I can sleep in until 8 🤔. The problem is, because I made lunches for Kid #1 up until she graduated high school Kid #2 will likely throw a fit if I ever, EVER suggested it. Another challenge is that Kid # 3 is horribly picky about her lunches, which makes it easy because she will just grab a pack of rice cakes and take for lunch, but then I feel horrible because rice cakes for lunch everyday is not a healthy option.

Kid #4, #5 and #6. Elementary schoolers. In some places, grade 7 kids have their own middle school situation, and would be separated from the junior school. Back at home in Tortola, grade 7 is part of the high school. They actually considered doing the same in our town here in Canada, but when they put the idea out there, the parents shut it down. So as a result, my last 3 girls and I make the 20 minute walk to school in the mornings. We are just inside the limit for the bus; if we lived 2 blocks away the girls would have a cool bus ride every day. These girlies usually have to be up by 8am to get ready to leave the house by 8:45. School starts at about 9:15am I think. This can be a hard feat for a little legged 6 year old, but she manages, even in the dead of winter when there are heaps of snow, and its stinking cold.

I really did want to do proper signs but I ran out of time 😅.

Are you excited about School?

Kid #2- “I don’t want to go to school tomorrow. I don’t want to go back to school at all. I hate it. It’s so boring.” She then sighs loudly and mopes about the kitchen. The next day she is ready on time, beautifully dressed, and excited to see her friends, who she is meeting at 7:50am sharp.

Kid #4- “Im excited to see my friends!” She was initially disappointed about not getting the teacher she wanted, Mr. Schaefer. The night before, well actually at 3am in the morning, I wrote a letter asking if there was any miracle of a chance she could be reassigned to his class. This morning I got a phone call with good news. My girlie said that it didn’t really matter, but I could tell by the smile on her face that it did. Got some major mummy points there…though if I hadn’t procrastinated, and had made the request at the end of the last school year, we wouldn’t have been in the situation. Ah well, lesson learned.

Kid #5- “Im so excited to see my friends as well!” Two of her good friends from last year are in her class again this year and she is thrilled. She is the social one, and having her social support is a big deal.

Kid #6- Didn’t say much, but didn’t complain either, so I take that as a win.

And I am feeling great! It’s nice to have a quiet moment. I’m going to finish this post, (its only been about an hour 😁, well almost 1hr 45min since I just proof read it), and I just might take a nap, or do dinner prep, or practice some taekwondo kicks, who knows. The day is mine, well until 2:30 when the first group of kids get home.

Enjoy your first day back to school, and I hope your little ones had a great one.

Final word count, 1039 words ✅ 😁.