Almost Over

This week marks the beginning of the end – of summer ! It’s T minus 6 days and counting until school starts again; then another 180 school days of backpacks, homework and making lunches. I can't believe that it is almost over. I remember that when I was a kid, summer vacation was almost too long. I was more then ready to go back to school, but now I am not ready to give up my kids yet. Yes, I will admit that I yell at them a lot and I loose my temper with them, but I really enjoy them being around.. There won't be any more kids sleeping in and quiet mornings for me. There won't be any laid-back evenings with only preparing dinner to worry about. There won't be any more after dinner walks to the yogurt shop and late night swims. These are just some of the things that I enjoy during the summer.

We are going to enjoy this last week of summer vacation. Mike and I have been working on finishing up some landscaping around the pool. Andrew and Catherine will be finishing up their last week of swim lessons. Then we are off to Lake Tahoe for one last mini-vacation. It is our annual end of the summer get-away. We will be joined by my sister and her family for a few days of relaxation, fun, beach and cousin time!

After Tahoe...right back reality...school begins on Monday. Then onto the rat-race of carpooling, homework, soccer practices, soccer games, Faith Formation classes, Mike working a lot more hours and my never ending desire to fit exercise into my hectic schedule.

Since I am a "list-maker", I have already started to put together a little plan of how we can make this school year a little less stressful than last. Some of my "plans" include...

-Pack lunches the night before and refrigerate!
-Make sure backpacks are packed and ready to go the night before.
-Organize our "homework center" (a closet I have set aside for school supplies)...stock with extra crayons, sharpened pencils and supplies needed to complete homework.
-Lay out clothes the night before. (especially for Catherine)

And for me personally, I need to remember the connection between procrastination and stress.I am going to work on NOT waiting to do too many things until the last minute. When I do this, my anxiety bubbles forth into an explosive stress frenzy. My goal is to stay on top of homework, invitation responses, Faith Formation lesson plans, laundry, phone calls, and house cleaning that all become key players in the anxiety-causing wheel of put it off until tomorrow.

But for now, we will enjoy these last days of summer vacation.

Summer... it was fun while it lasted!!