I have no idea how I forget these things every year.
Let’s just set the scene…it’s 7:15 am, and I’m still half-asleep and clutching my coffee like it’s my lifeline while yelling unceremoniously at everyone to just act like they like one another for one photo of them on their first day of school. I’m tired. They’re tired. No one wants them to go back to school, and somehow, I’ve forgotten how much I despise the first day of school as a mom of four despite having lived it every year since 2013.
In honor of today being the kids’ first day of school – but only three of them this year because our oldest doesn’t start her fall semester of college for another few weeks – and having a sophomore in high school and twins in 7th grade, let me welcome you into my descent into chaos. Here are the five things I somehow have to re-learn on the kids’ first day of school like it’s brand-new information and I haven’t done it 14 times.
I deeply despise school routines
I love routine. I love schedule. I thrive on routines and schedules. But nothing, and I do mean nothing, is as loathsome as being on someone else’s timetable. I remember, every single year on the first day of school, how much I detest being the subject of someone else’s rules. Having to have kids somewhere at a certain time, being on someone else’s schedule. I am a schedule and routine girlie…but only when it’s my schedule and routine.
Back to school shopping is the financial equivalent of a weekend getaway
New clothes, new shoes, new backpacks, new lunchboxes, new supplies, new beauty products, new sports equipment…by the time I’m done getting them everything they need and want for the start of a new school year, I’ve spent $5,000 for them to wear everything once just to wear their favorite Seaside sweatshirts on repeat the rest of the year.
People complain about the cost of school supplies from their kids’ teachers ’ lists, and I don’t understand it. It’s the least expensive part of back-to-school shopping.
I’m not getting up early
Every single school year I say I’m going to set my alarm and get up earlier, and every year I’m like…yeah, no. I don’t do early mornings. I just can’t. My husband takes everyone to school in the mornings before he comes back home and heads into his office for the day, and that is my biggest life blessing.
Every year I’m going to get up earlier, and every year I’m actually stumbling into the family room 10 minutes before everyone leaves for school while my husband hands me my coffee and I hope no one talks to me. But I guess it’s nice to have goals.
I forget how exhausting back-to-school life is
I forget how exhausting it is to leave the house at 2 pm every afternoon and spend an hour and a half sitting in my car between two different pick-up times for three kids. I forget how much I detest that time of day, and being out of the house that time of day feels like a sin. It’s very hot. I forget just how hot 2 pm golf matches are, and evening football games are sweltering with all those sweaty bodies packed into the bleachers. I forget how busy we get this time of year and how fast the time flies as a result.
I forget how much I like having my kids home with me all summer
You know summer is not my favorite season. But I love it because it means my kiddos are home with us all day. I miss traveling on a whim because we have the time and ability to do so without missing any sports or classes. I miss movie nights when everyone stays up late, and no one has to worry about being tired the next day. I miss pool days and morning walks and not having a packed calendar. I miss judging dives and cannonballs and pool basketball and having friends over every day and not worrying about bedtimes. I miss game nights and free time and simplicity of it all. Mostly, I just miss my babies.
Final thoughts
The first day of school is just my yearly reminder that I really, really like spending time with my kids (and that I’m never going to be a morning person). Good luck to all the kiddos headed back to school today…be kind, have fun, and don’t take it too seriously. School should be a place of learning, but also a place of fun.
Tiffany Raiford 