Back to School Crystals

Back to School

The start of school year is a big deal event in my household with three girls in school and a husband who is a teacher. They have all been home for the summer which has been busy good with camping vacations at the beach, girlfriends spending overnights, swimming parties, and family time together. Routine? Schedule? Gone with the last day of school. Poof. Summer vacation - YAY!

I am very blessed to be self-employed and able to work from my home office/studio A LOT of the time. Flexibility and balance for me, are particularly important during summer vacation, as the whole family is at home, A LOT of the time. Love my family. Love being able to work (sort of) with my family at home. By the end of summer, I look forward to the first day of school. Every year. This year is no different. First day of school - YAY!

The girls are dressed and ready in their "first day of school" outfits. Final hairdo adjustments have been made via maternal finger lick spit. 7am hair cowlicks and smooth high ponytail can be challenging. Obligatory first day of school photos, by the big tree in the front yard, are taken in spite of the worry of being late and complaints of "enough already." Away we go, I cultivate patience and create safety transport bubbles around everybody, especially around the other parent drivers, as we navigate through the throngs of children, school buses, and the general morning rush. Drop off #1 Middle School - 7th grader. Drop off #2 Elementary School - 4th grader. The girls grew taller over the summer - sigh.

Home again. Whew and it isn't even 8am.

Repeat drive in the afternoon (especially fun when the girls get out of school at various times on different days.) To be continued Monday through Friday, with the exception of scheduled school holidays, until the end of the shortened (can you say BUDGET CUTS) school year.

The white board calendar in our kitchen will soon be filled with assorted school events and activities all noted in colored coded pen. Routines are re-established and defined by homework, chores, play, and an earlier bedtime hour.

Teachers. THANK YOU! I appreciate you for the job you do instructing and guiding our children. My own children.

My husband is a high school teacher. I bow down. Absolutely overcome with GRATITUDE for him! And for all other teachers and school support staff. NO WAY could I do what he does. What teachers do. What the school support staff does. Thank you. I have a great respect and admiration for my husband as he tightens his tie (yes, he wears one every day) and heads off to his overcrowded classroom full of teenagers. TEENAGERS. Spending time encouraging, teaching, mentoring, listening, correcting bad grammar and sharing the magic of Literature and the power of the written word. He also gets to share his dry sense of humor and tell really awful "punny" jokes to a captive audience. Grading papers, department meetings, grading papers, dealing with the general apathy of students and parents, grading papers, school district politics, and frustration at the increased number of furlough days fill the rest of his academic calendar.

Something new with the start of this school year, in a couple of weeks, my oldest daughter is heading off for college. YAY! We are so proud of her. Bittersweet excitement. Anticipatory Grief. Full spectrum of emotions. XL Twin Bed set. Standard dorm room. We offer our sympathy to her new dorm roommates.

So this morning...after goofing off a bit and doing a bit of a happy dance twirl, I sit at my desk in the QUIET of my home office. Sipping my morning coffee. AAAHHHHHH. Little more happy dance. The crystals are calling me. Time to get back to work :)