Happy Friday! Was this not the longest short week or is it just me? Here are 5 things on my mind today.
1. Paul started 1st grade on Tuesday! It was a beautiful morning but he insisted we take the photo inside because there were kids outside our house waiting for the bus and he was embarrassed about the sign. He's already embarrassed by his mom at 6.5. Sheesh. He was very excited for school but also a little nervous.
2. Re-entry has been ROUGH for the boys. I don't remember it being this tough last summer but maybe I blocked it out. Mornings have been rough and there has been so much attitude. Taco's back to his normal bedtime but wakes up in the worst mood most days. We're trying to get Paul's bedtime earlier but he fights it each night and falls asleep far later than he should (around 9pm, he should be asleep around 8-8:15 ideally). Then he wakes up so EXHAUSTED but forgets how exhausted he was in the morning when bedtime rolls around. Gah.
3. Our activity schedule is heating up, too. Paul started soccer on Wednesday. He'll have it on Mondays and Wednesdays. Last time he did soccer he barely touched the ball but Phil said he was very into it this year. Yay! I stayed back with Taco so did not get to observe but I will take him sometime when I'm not traveling. Both boys start swimming lessons on Sunday afternoon and they will also attend religious ed classes on Sunday mornings. I am sure this sounds like a walk in the park to those with big kids, like Sarah and Kae! And don’t get me wrong - it’s not a heavy activity schedule since our kids are too young for that (IMO). The soccer schedule is tricky when I am traveling as it's from 6-7pm and we start Taco's bedtime at 7pm so he can be sleeping by 7:30-7:45. I'm encouraging Phil to hire a neighbor girl to stay back with Taco when I'm traveling so she can put him to bed.
4. Between back to school and being in the office, I haven't ran since my 8 mile long run on Monday. I'm hoping to fit a 3 mile run in today and then I'll do one last 8 mile run on Saturday or Sunday. My race is next Saturday. You don't really need to taper for a 10 mile race that you aren't going to aggressively run, but I don't know when I will run next week since I'll be in Charlotte Mon-Thur where I have 2 client dinners, moderate 2 panels, and have 25+ client calls (it's a week where sales is encouraged to book a ton of calls). Looking at my calendar kind of makes me whimper...
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| Red = client meeting or event. The big blue blocks are what I blocked for travel to/from Charlotte. |
5. But ending on a positive, we have a pretty low key weekend ahead of us. We'll lay low tonight. Tomorrow afternoon/evening is our annual block party which features a shoe kicking contest (that I am TERRIBLE at but enjoy participating in). Sunday we have religious ed in the morning and swimming lessons in the afternoon. So Sundays are kind of set for the forseeable future since we have a morning and afternoon commitment. So we'll just need to add in the occasional park visit and those days will be set.
How was your week? If it's back-to-school week, has re-entry been rough for you as well?
I am intrigued by the shoe kicking contest. What happens here? Whose shoe gets kicked and is it a smaller compact shoe so it will room easily or is it a boot that is hard to maneuver?
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like your schedule is heating up a bit. The trip to Charlotte seems a bit intense. When do you eat? Or pee?! I don't see a lot of breaks in there!!
I am not back to school; in fact, my week has been easier with less people out and about due to school starting! I am went to Niagara falls yesterday and it was barely busy!
I'm also very intrigued by the shoe kicking contest! This is our third week back in school so we're settling in, but I wouldn't mind if some of that pumpkin spice weather other people are having made its way down here. Good luck at your race!!!
ReplyDeleteFor the shoe kicking contest, each person kicks each of their own shoes. You can take a bit of a running start (which is tough to do with a loose shoe but most do to get some momentum). Whoever kicks their shoe the furthest wins a trophy. There is a traveling trophy for kids, adult man, and adult woman! For kids they adjust the starting line based on age.
ReplyDeleteWell, I think 2x/ week soccer already is actually kind of a lot! Even for club soccer at the high school level they were only practicing 3x/ week! (a bit longer practices, and obviously games etc too besides the practices, but still- they never practiced more than 3x/ week). The high school sports all do M-F, and Asher for sure swims more than 3x/ week. But soccer always "lighter" (it never felt light, lol). I think that sounds like a good balance though, with a couple things on weekends and a couple during the week. It's easy to have it creep up! It just seems to happen, especially as more school things pop up, etc. Good luck! Sorry it's been a rough week. The bedtime thing sounds hard. I feel like we always have had that issue.... I don't think I have great answers for you. Ha.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a VERY rough re-entry. Gosh, I hope things smooth out next week. Your work week sounds brutally busy too, Lisa! I hope Phil does hire the neighbour to help while you're travelling.
ReplyDeleteIt's so funny, I was just saying that I feel like an alien observing another planet. What is this...back to...school? M drove himself to campus and so it's just regular life around here!
I have a feeling that I would not do well with the shoe kicking.
ReplyDeleteIt's exciting that the race is almost here! And grrr about the built in taper that you have due to reentry/work. Kidz..........
I'm excited your race weekend is fast approaching.
ReplyDeleteThe entry doesn't sound nearly as exciting. I'm not a fan of transitions and they're always hard for kids, too.
Your travel schedule. Oof. I'm glad you have a trip with Paul sprinkled in there which will be more fun.
Bedtimes and mornings are also just..hard! Why does no one tell people considering starting a family that you have to manage bedtimes and mornings THREE HUNDRED AND SIXTY FIVE DAYS A YEAR...FOR YEARS...for not only yourself but your offspring. It's legit overwhelming...
It's the first week students and all faculty are back on campus and it's been the longest four-day week ever. I mean, it's been GOOD, but super hard.
ReplyDeleteRe entry is TOUGH. TO be fair, Minnie only has dance. It's those middle schoolers/4-5th graders that run you ragged.
ReplyDeletere-entry takes time to adjust, especially with after activities schedules. it requires adjustment and flexibility. Nowadays kids are so busy, with all the sports they do, they dont' have as much free time as we did. All good though, sports teach them things book cannot. We are having a chill weekend too, my kind of relaxing and open weekend, with a lot of reading.
ReplyDeleteI think every teacher in the US has those signs! (At least Cam has moved from from wanting to be a fire truck to a fireman. Carson wants to be a youtuber. Is the future in trouble?) I get it about re-entry. It's hard for me, too -- and the time change doesn't help. We'll just get back from England (right before the US time change, but I think right AFTER the UK change) and I have a feeling I'll have no idea what time it is till January! Good luck with the race next week.
ReplyDeleteRe-entry is so hard! My nephews were STRUGGLING during those first few weeks. And next week looks crazy for you, ahhhh. I'm glad you built in a lunch break. I'm sure those would get scheduled over if you didn't!
ReplyDeleteThat's fun that Paul will be doing soccer twice a week! Hopefully he has a good time!
I feel like the school re-entry was harder for me than my daughter this year, ha. But we've finished four weeks of school already, so we're back in the routine.
ReplyDeleteOkay, so your race is next Saturday- I'm excited! You've been training all summer and I think it's going to go well. I hope you have great weather for it.
I think your activity schedule is good- a little challenging, but not too much. Paul looks so cute in his photo! And it's cute that he was embarrassed about the sign in front of other kids, ha.
Lisa, not sure what happened I thought I left a comment but I obviously didn't. Re-entry is always rough. I am in the similar boat. Last week was good but really bloody hard at the same time. So many hanging in the air things... After care, lessons, picks ups were not finalized and T is going away next week. Thankfully, it all seems to be falling into place as I type this. Hopefully, next week will be better.
ReplyDeleteWe have an only child and she is 28, so these days are long behind me. But I do remember oh too well! Our library used to read stories to kids at 7pm I think, so we would get our daughter fed, bathed, and in her jammies, go there, then come home and she was ready for bed. If there are times when you can't get someone to be with Taco on soccer night, any chance you could bring him to the game all ready for bed? Or is the turnaround time too tight after work?
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness. I cannot believe Paul is already embarrassed by the sign/photo thing. That's killing me. So funny. He is so darn cute. Your work schedule looks nuts. Do you have time for a sandwich in there? I'm sorry the bedtimes are not running smoothly, hopefully the boys will get into a good schedule soon. That's awesome that Paul is enjoying soccer.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was growing up, our church would have a shoe kicking contest on Mother's day! I'd totally forgotten about that until you mentioned it. I hope you had a good time!
ReplyDeleteWe are starting activities too. Our third kid isn't baptized (yet) so she doesn't get to go to religious ed classes, so Sunday morning she goes to agility class while the two older kids go to religious ed. It works out pretty well for our schedule. But I'm sure the Husband would like to get her baptized and started in classes. But he's the Catholic one, so I'll let him figure it out!
Oh, I am already looking forward to hear more about how Paul likes being in school. 1st grade! That's a big deal. So funny he didn't want to take the picture outside with his sign.
ReplyDeleteGetting back into a routine is always rough and it sounds like you're going to have a bit of a tight schedule (but I know you like having things planned for the boys).
Good luck on your race. I am sure you'll do great.
I would lose that contest in spectacular fashion. I hope that the travel is going well, and that the kiddo's bed times are better than they were.
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