I am WORN OUT.
We are only a few weeks into the new school year, and between settling back into homeschooling, and figuring out all the chauffeuring I need to do, and making sure that I know the schedule, who needs to be where, with what, when, and then actually making it happen is running me ragged. Plus, these people seem to want to eat EVERY DAY, and when you homeschool, that means you are making three meals a day happen. And even though they are perfectly capable of making breakfast and lunch, you have to make sure that there is FOOD for that. There is so much to physically DO, and so many places to BE.
And there are checks to be written and forms to be filled out and appointments to schedule. And lesson plans to make and work to be checked. There is so much MENTAL energy exerted that my brain is just tired.
And, just to reiterate, we homeschool! I'm not even DEALING with back to school nights and supply lists and teacher communication.
I remember when I was teaching, there were days when I would be driving home at 5:00, and I'd really have to make sure I was alert for the commute home. As in, this is what truckers do when they have an overnight shift, and now this is what I have to do. And since, Adam pointed out, I'm basically teaching AND momming, I really shouldn't be surprised that the September adjustment is wiping me out and leaving me collapsed on the couch once everyone is FINALLY home from all their evening activities.
And it's only getting worse as the girls get older. Madison's dance team is made up of 9-11 year old girls, and we're at the studio until 8 or 8:30 three nights a week. And Reagan is there until 7:45 the fourth night. I don't want to know that the teen years bring.
But I've been a mom long enough, and a teacher longer, and I know that we will all adjust. We'll have weeks where I feel like supermom because I got it all figured out, and weeks where I feel like we just squeaked by, and weeks where I had some fails. And that those weeks are ALL normal, and around October, it'll feel like we've been doing this since the beginning of time.
And what I need to do is...
Plan as much as I can to make things easier.
Set alarms and reminders on my phone.
Rest my brain and body when I can.
Forgive myself.
And most importantly, don't forget that all these new beginnings are as wonderful as they are tiring!
