Rolling With It

I have never been anywhere near as good at providing those warm, safe routines that provide a framework for family life as I would like to be.  I have always made endless resolutions about family dinners and bedtime routines that never actually seem to play out.  I thought that last school year, with both kids involved in several extra-curricular activities, was really frantic.  

The beginning of this school year, however, has shown me that the level of routine held in our previous lives was infinitely higher than any level we will probably ever reach again.  

Every night so far in the last two weeks has had something or several somethings going on for someone and most of the girls' activities haven't even started yet.   Somehow we have muddled through so far and even had some very warm family moments where both girls have been spread out on the floor doing homework or taking turns telling us about their schooldays over "dinner", but the key to this has seemed to be a certain attitude of suspended control - just living in the moment and rolling with it.  Any attempt to think about long-term plans and schedules threatens to just bring it all crashing down into panic and chaos.  So we had better not do that kind of thinking, I guess.


This coming week includes the following, which I am sure is just the tip of the iceberg:


Tuesday - PTO meeting at LSB's school and auditions for the LSG
Wednesday - I need to turn in more stuff to Girl Scout office right after school and LSP has a coach's meeting for the soccer team he coaches for the LSB (soccer starts the following week) and more auditions for the LSG
Thursday - mandatory swim parents meeting at LSG's school at same time as Open House at my school
Friday - Girl Scouts for the big girls (also a peace education speaker at the LSB's school, but I think we'll have to miss that).


Roll with it - that's my new motto.  It is also important never to actually sit down or exhale that tired breath or any such thing, because once you once let yourself wind down at night, there is no getting started again.  Have to keep rolling....