Back to school - AAARRRRGGGHHH!!

Back to school means back to the mad rush that is the routine for most parents with school-going kids! Major preparation means lots of nagging - pack your school bags and place them AT the front door. No, NOT at the top of the stairs, or in the kitchen where I'll trip over them, or in the bathroom next to the front door, or under the dining room table - at the front door - PLEEEAASE!!
Remember the hat - no hat, no play: school rules. Remember the homework book - have we even done the homework!!?? (thank goodness it only needs to done once a week).

Check the blackboard to make sure that I haven't forgotten a classmate's birthday, or a bring-soup-to-school-for-the-poor day, or a fund-raising day, or a play date.
Lay clothes out because we don't wear uniforms yet.
Pack lunch boxes and place them in the fridge where I know I will see them in the morning.

And that's just the night before - it's in the mornings that the real madness begins.
It's also only pre-primary preparation. What the hell happens in primary school..??!!

For me the biggest thing is that early morning wake up. In the middle of July, it's still dark and cold at 6am (and yes, I am aware that for many people 6am is a luxury, but frankly, that's their problem). Might as well still be the middle of the night for me! School holidays meant being able to get up a whole hour later. So this morning when J cried out in her sleep at 5h30, I realised that I only had 30 minutes left in the nest that is my bed, and immediately my brain started working and I couldn't get back to sleep. But for the last few weeks, a 5h30 wake up has meant another 90 minutes left of sleep, and so I've happily been able to snuggle up to the hot water bottle that is my man, and tumble back into dreamland.

This morning I had to press the reality button and get my butt out of bed and my thinking hat on, but only E started school today. J starts on Wednesday, and then the real fun begins... rush J just a little and she immediately digs her heels in. Luckily I've learnt how to deal with her and I almost always win the round - thumbs up for Mom!

This Monday morning held an unexpected surprise for me when my car wouldn't start - grrrrrrr!! I bundled E into her Dad's car and rushed her off to school, phoned my boss en-route (so much for the Oprah no-phone-in-car pledge) to explain why I would be late getting to work after just having had a 3-day weekend, and then flew back home to solve the problem of the dead battery, only to discover that my ever-calm-and-handy husband had put together a contraption (because our jumper cables have gone missing) made from wire and washing pegs - not sure what to call it - had started my car and was waiting for me to get home and take over with J so that he could run my car down to the garage.

R740 and 45 minutes later, I was on road to the office - calm, hair still in place, make up still on....and already thinking about what to make for dinner... :-)

xx