School

My babies are back in school today and it's a little too quiet around here. I have a pretty long to-do list but the silence can be so stifling to productivity. I'm not even sure what happened to the summer. Did we even have June this year? And July's gone. And August. What the heck happened to August? The days are flying by and I feel like I'm stuck back in May somewhere.
School.
Really?

Calin starts 8th grade this year. He's back at the Jr. High so it shouldn't be anything too different for him. He does have a new principal, but I have no idea who the last one was so it doesn't make much difference. What a far cry that is from his days in elementary school when his teachers would send home daily notes. Back then I was 100% involved in the classroom and with the PTA/PTO. I used to live my life to be as involved in my children's lives as possible. And in many ways I am still like that. My involvement led to my job in the schools, but my job has limited my involvement in their classrooms. But it's okay because as the kids have gotten older, the parents are needed much less often in the classroom. So it has worked out. Instead I get to be involved as his gym mom and show him support that way through driving him to daily practice and rooting for him at his meets. He moves up to level 6 this year and his farthest meet is in Portland, Oregon. I've never been there so we're looking forward to it.

Naiya starts 5th grade at the middle school this year. I'm a bit more broken up by that one. For the last 3 years that I've worked at the elementary school, she's been here with me. It's hard for me to let her go and I wish I could have held her back here for just one more year (or 3, or 4, but whatever). Raising kids isn't supposed for fly by like this! Naiya is going to be in the AIM program this year (Alternative Instruction Model) that is a different way learning things. It's a very intensive academic program. She was tested last year and accepted into this program and it's going to be a pretty bittersweet year. She is going to love this class. But she is also going to be pushed to her limits. The teacher guarantees tears and failures. The kids will have times they fall, and they will learn to pick themselves back up. This program is designed to challenge even the brightest kids in the class. They will have homework, a lot of homework. We were forewarned that this is an academic program and a child involved in a lot of extra curricular activities would not be able to handle the workload. So it will be a hard year for her, which means it will be a hard year for me. But I think when it is over, she will remember the fun she had and not all of the miserable evenings spent suffering through homework. She is guaranteed to come out of it so much better than when she started. That is what sold her on the program. She knows the potential hazards, but she accepts them because she knows it will be such a great benefit for her in the long run. So what can a mother do but offer her as much support as possible?
I don't start work quite yet. We have our preschool open house next week so I will work a few days for that then start the following week. As much as I enjoy the quiet freedom of not having anyone around, I can only tolerate so much. By next week I will be dying to go back to work.
But for today I have plans. I have chores to do and the traditional first-day-of-school cookies to bake. I always bake cookies on the first day of school so when the kids get home they are enticed to sit and talk with me about their day while enjoying warm cookies and a glass of cold milk. Call it parental manipulation if you like, but it works.