A New Era

I’m nervous and excited, all at the same time. Kaitlyn and Mackenzie started 1st grade yesterday. They are officially out of babyhood, toddlerhood, small childhood. The baby teeth will be gone soon. Homework starts in a couple weeks. But they are getting more reasonable. More independent. More mature. More fun!

They seemed fine yesterday. All happy to get back to school. Kaitlyn didn’t even want us to walk her to class. She knew exactly where to go and wanted to be a big girl.

But the big difference comes Thursday. The little girls…the BABIES…start preschool. THAT is what I am nervous about but also REALLY excited about!

I don’t mean to be all “poor me,” but let’s face it, it’s been a long road for me. There was a brief period of time when the big girls were in school and I had some time to myself, but I also spent a lot of that time already back at the fertility doctor and then was pregnant again. And just as the older girls were getting a hair easier, the next two came along. I am SO looking forward to just gaining a LITTLE bit of balance in my life

10 hours a week. At first it sounds like a lot, but I remember from when it was just the big girls and they were in school, it’s not really all that much. Just enough to get a few things done and run errands while being child-free. However…those 10 hours, if used wisely, can be HUGE!

I’m a little afraid my expectations are too high of what I’m going to accomplish. Because all the errand running still has to be done, and because (let’s face it) I’m going to take some personal time, I know I’m not going to get everything done this year that I want. But as my mom says, I will at least start catching up.

So here are some of the things I plan on doing:

Going to lunch. With friends. With Mike. With my mom. With the big girls at school. And when I’m not with anyone else I’m going to go to Subway or any other place that doesn’t have a drive-thru. Doesn’t that just sound heavenly!

Grocery shopping. Grocery shopping with kids will now be reserved for summers and Christmas.

Shopping at Sams. (Like Costco for those of you who don’t have Sams). Yes I could have been going there all this time but it’s not incredibly close and I just don’t want to fool with it with the kids in tow.

SHOE shopping! I am shoe-challenged. I wear a 10.5 in most shoes. Guess what? Most stores stop at 10! And carry a few that jump up to 11! 10’s are too tight (except sandals) and 11’s slide off my feet. Most brands do not make a 10.5 at all. If I order online you have to send them back half the time. Plus I can’t get a heel too tall because I’m 5’10”. I prefer NOT to tower over men. I wish it didn’t bother me, but it does. So there. I used to consider my shoe challenge a plus because I can’t just go into any store and blow money on shoes. But I can’t find any shoes! My shoes are old and worn and I do not have the time to replace them. I literally have to search and search for shoes. Now I can!

Go to lunch.

Shop for clothes at any time that I need to. It’s almost impossible to try anything on with kids in tow. Especially jeans, shorts, and dresses which are never long enough because I’m so tall. My new clothes consist of plain boring tops from Target. They’re comfy and perfect for getting spit up on, but truthfully, I like to fix up just a tiny bit. Still casual, but an upgrade would be nice.

Finish some lacking details in my house! I have several rooms that never got the finishing touches – accessories, window treatments, etc. I just really don’t have time to search to find the right items to pull it all together, not to mention put them up on my walls.

Do all my appointments that normally require me getting my mom to babysit for – hair, doctor, dentist, etc. Not fun but it will be nice not to have to constantly depend on someone else.

Go to lunch.

Work on baby books, photo books, blog books, etc. I have quite a few that I need to catch up on or have printed.

Organize some things in the house. Lots of things, and rooms. And fix stuff . Sew stuff. I have a couple baskets of things just piling up.

Volunteer at the elementary school.

Go to lunch.

Devote a little time to my church calling and visiting teaching. A calling is what you’re doing at church currently, like teaching or whatever. Currently I’m the meeting coordinator for extra women’s meetings and activities. Not too taxing but still. And visiting teaching is our monthly checks and balances on the other women at church. Also completely difficult with two toddlers along. Pretty hard to deliver a spiritual message when you worry about them running all over somebody else’s house.

Plan meals.

Plan Family Home Evening nights.

Did I mention go to lunch?

See what I mean? I think have pretty high expectations. And you can see by the order which I listed them which things I will most likely tackle first. Of course I will have to plan it out and do some of the errands one day and maybe alternate with stuff at home to be done. Also because I can’t spend us into the poorhouse, so of course I will have to spread it out. But the point is that I will be ABLE to do those things, when I want to or need to do them.

I am especially excited about going to lunch! I hate eating lunch at home and I am so sick of fast-food. No I am not all burgers and fries, I try to get some of the healthier items and sides when we hit the drive-thrus, but my Dr.Pepper that I get every day really makes me happy. And there’s just something about it that is so much better getting it somewhere else than pouring one at home. Plus I love going out to eat and once you have kids, unless you work and get to take lunch, that is a rare treat. I am excited.

What am I nervous about? The little girls adjusting of course. I know they will be fine. I hope they don’t have a problem with the moment of drop off every day. The big girls at that age would go into total meltdown. It was awful, even though it provided me with sanity for the following 5 hours. Then I would pick them up and they would be tired and groggy and have a meltdown again because they both wanted me to carry them a long, long way to the car, plus their bags, etc. I obviously couldn’t do that so it was terrible. I think these girls will be better. And I bought them rolling backpacks to help with the carrying. Then the school tells me no rolling backpacks because they all trip over each other. I told them it was too late. The tags are gone and I can’t carry all that anyway. The teacher said okay. Whew!


So what am I NOT going to do during my 10 hours?

Check Facebook.

Email.

Read blogs.

Talk on the phone.

Watch TV (unless it’s just on while I’m getting something done in the house).

Go to the gym (they can come with me for that).


All fun (except the gym) but great time-wasters.

Yep. I’m excited. Things are looking up.