I don't know about you, but here in Maryland our kids still have until June 11 before school is out. Right now that feels like an eternity to them... and to me! No one wants to get up in the morning, no one wants to do homework, no one wants to go to school and do anything productive - you get the picture. They are ready to be done. Unfortunately we still have 12 days of school left. 12 more days of work. 12 more days of morning crazy before 8 blessed weeks of freedom.
I find myself in need of some strategies and tools to get us through to June 11. What can I do differently to help the girls? How am I contributing to the stress? How do I stay sane over the next weeks?
I have some ideas on making these last weeks of school more pleasure than pain for all of us:
Make it Special - Tuesday evening the school had a Book Fair that we could visit as a family, so we all piled in the car and went down for some new reading material. The girls all got to pick some books out and immediately started reading them in the car. Abby, especially, has been devouring her choices - and she's not a huge reader! It made me realize that sometimes they need the novelty of a "treat." Something out of the ordinary that just makes them feel special. Sure, it cost Charles and I the price of the books, but their enjoyment and appreciation make it worth every penny! Today I drove them to school - again, not a huge thing, but something that starts their day out special. Over the next couple of weeks I will try to find different little things that will make their days pass a little easier.
Relax - I don't know about you, but my May calendar is full! In the last two weeks I have been at the girls' school for 6 different events. Add in church functions, friends and family and you have a crazy, busy month! It's hard enough to manage the family during this wind down time - add in all the field trips, field days, concerts, and activities and you can easily lose your mind! This is the first weekend we have nothing scheduled and we have declared it off-limits. Charles and Morgan have plans to conquer the two-wheeler bike, Emily has a date with her roller blades, and Abby is itching to get back on her bike. Mommy will be on camera detail and we will rest. We don't take enough time to enjoy being home together as a family, especially during this time of year. There's so much going on that sucks your family time away, so we will take this weekend to steal it back!
Prioritize - All the hectic rush makes me crazy and rubs off on the girls so they get kind of crazy, too! It doesn't help anything and just makes us all want to rip at each other, so I'm trying to figure out how to avoid it. It's time for me to prioritize - what's most important, what can we let go, etc. - and then accept the limits I place. Why do I continue to think that I can do anything and handle anything? I have proved over and over again that I have limits - why do I choose to ignore them so often? My poor family are the ones who suffer because I can't say no. So I'll keep working on setting my boundaries and sticking to them. One of these days, with the Lord's help, maybe I will figure it out!
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