Another Year Gone, Time to Slow Down

Well, another school year is now finished. The last day of school over by us was Friday and I have to say I'm kind of glad about it. The last few weeks saw me running from school to school for different end-of-the-year functions. A talent show, Track Day, Field Day, a barbecue, a spring fling, a moving-up ceremony, and a couple of others, plus my usual volunteer day at Zach and Dolly's school. It was a bit hectic for me but fun for all of us. Trying to keep all the dates and times and schools straight was a bit maddening but I did it, of course, because that's my job. :)

The kids are also happy that it's over but Zach took it particularly hard this year. In the past six months we'd have a lot of difficulties with the kids' dad, Paul, and about three weeks ago he finally went over the top - Paul, not Zach. Because of all the problems Zach only felt comfortable around me and his teacher, Ms. H. and the thought of not being able to be around her all day broke him. He came home from school yesterday in tears because he's going to miss her.

No, he won't be able to see her next year because he won't be going to that school next year; he'll be going to the same school as Ty - hence the moving-up ceremony I mentioned earlier. I told him he'll still get to see Ms. H. when I go to back-to-school and meet-the-teacher nights and that he'll get to see her occasionally at school functions. That helped him a bit but he's still upset that he won't be able to have that one extra comfort zone every day. He'll have to work through it, though, and I'm sure he will.

They all start summer school on Tuesday and will go for the month of June. If you're read my posts over the years you know that school for the lower grades is optional and fun; it's not mandatory because they need it to be able to move on to the next grade. They take really fun classes in summer school while still learning. They're actually excited about it and so am I except for one thing; the hours of summer school suck.

The boys have to get on their bus at 6:50; during the regular school year I get up at 7:00 and get the kids up at 7:15 to get on the bus at 7:45. I'll now have to get up at 6:00 to get the boys up at 6:15 so they can walk down the block to get on the bus on time. Then they only attend school until 12:45 which means they'll be home by 1:30. Ack!! Dolly, however, doesn't get on her bus until an hour later and gets out of school at 3:30 putting her arrival time at about 4:00. She's in the lower elementary and both boys are in the upper elementary now. Why the times are staggered like that I have no idea but it makes it hard for the parents. It is what it is, though, so I'll deal with it as usual.

I still haven't decided what we'll do once summer school is out because they'll actually have almost seven weeks left before school starts again in August. Paul is supposed to get them for a week over the summer but I'm not sure that'll happen after the most recent incident but it's still a wait-and-see situation. While they're home with me I'll probably spend time taking them to the spray park and whatever else I can find to do that won't take all my money. We have plenty to do around here, it's just a matter of finding stuff that all three kids want to do at the same time. Yep, that'll be fun.

I don't have to worry about that just yet, though; one day at a time, right? Right. I just still can't believe this past year has gone by so quickly. We arrived back in MO at the end of the school year last year; as a matter of fact, we got back here the day before Zach's birthday which just passed so we've already passed the one-year anniversary of our return. Time sure does fly when you're not paying attention. I'll have to slow down a bit and learn to enjoy things more, maybe then I won't be writing this same stuff at the end of next school year. I'll start with the summer first and take things slowly. So far I seem to be on the right track, right Marty? ;)

Until next time...peace to all.