With each passing day, the dread is growing bigger and bigger. It is almost the middle of August and that means school is approaching. Part of me is always excited about the upcoming school year. I still remember the excitement of getting new supplies and meeting my new teacher and looking at all my new books. My kids get excited, too, when they get their new supplies and when their new books show up in the mail. I like to think that each year they are getting a new teacher, too. Hopefully I have gleaned some wisdom from the passing years that I can put into each new school year to make it a better experience for all of us.
This year, however, it is August and I still have not sufficiently completed all of the things that I wanted to do this summer. Right now I feel the dread increasing because I didn't get as far on my website as I wanted to. I am working on presenting a workshop next week that still isn't finished. My kids books aren't here yet because they haven't even been ordered! I remembered that we do have all the math books we need, so I suppose that we could get started on that. While I was thinking about math, it hit me that "starting school" in our house pretty much equates with starting math again. Let's face it, a lot of the things that we do throughout the summer can very easily be classified as learning. There is something different, however, about starting up with math. It means I have to get back into the mode of being present and available to my children EVERY DAY to go over their lessons and help them with questions! Yikes. This year, I will admit, I am not quite ready for that yet.
I looked ahead to the next few weeks and saw how full the calendar still is. I thought about all of the things we still need to accomplish around here (not related to school) and I wonder how we are ever going to fit school back into our schedule. I know that it always finds its way in there, it just takes a bit of mental transitioning on my part. I have to realize that school time needs to take precedence again and that any "to-dos" have to take second place. Hopefully soon I will make that transition. Is it just me, or does it seem like this summer went faster than ever? Is anyone ready to start yet? Where is the enthusiasm? Dear Lord, give us the grace to get ready to begin another school year, and SOON!
God Bless!
