By Meg Hodson
The conversations and chatter inevitably began mid to late August. "Are your kids ready to go back to school?" My response was typical: "Oh yeah, they're ready, they want to see their friends, they are getting a little antsy." I thought I was antsy, too. I was looking forward to being able to get work done, have a little "me" time, some peace and quiet.
Well, as it turns out, I am not liking it at all. Yes, I have been able to get some personal time in, work done without having to stay up late, and the house has definitely been quiet. Too quiet. It reminds me of a sweet book that I still have a copy of and will occasionally read for story time. "It's Too Noisy" by Joanna Cole tells the story of a husband and father with an extremely noisy house. Through the advice of a friend, he is asked to add numerous animals to the already noisy house. Then at the end, after the house is SUPER noisy, he removes the animals and is appreciative of his relatively noisy house.
Summer is a tough and busy time with all three kids at home all the time without too firm of a schedule. It's not easy running my business, keeping them busy, doing fun activities with them, all the time trying not to go INSANE. Because let's face it, it does get crazy with them here all the time. Really insane. I thought for sure I was going to love being home once they started school. Honestly, I'm kind of hating it.
It could in part be due to nostalgia for them as young children. My youngest just started kindergarten, so this is the first school year where all three of them are gone all day. I really like my kids as "little people", needing my help with things, having me fix them breakfast, watching Sesame Street. These needs are on the eve of passing Even though being a Mom can be stressful a lot of the time, turns out I like it!
But I am happy that they love school and I am making a point to make sure I can give them all of my attention and time when they are home. Because before you know it, I will blink and I will be taking my first born off to college (okay it's 8 years off, but still.....) It has given me some time to really enjoy my time with them, but to also try to relish time with myself.
