This summer was strange. Obviously, I haven't been in "fun mom mode", so there were not a lot of those memorable moments. But the flip side of that is that because I was in survival mode, the kids got to do a lot of playing without having lots of responsibilities. The xbox has been pretty much worn out, hardly any books were cracked, and it was friend time all of the time.
But that's okay. You don't judge me and I won't judge you, deal? Deal.
So, anyway, back to school. Yes. Well, with impeccable timing, John planned a trip to Alaska with my dad, brother and brother-in-law which meant that he would be gone this last week of summer and the first 2 days of school. And because of my mad procrastination skills, it also happened to mean that I had a lot of details to take care of while he was gone. There was the shopping for clothes, my doctor appointment, hair appointments, registering for school, school walk throughs, and first day jitters - all to be handled on my own.
To be clear, most of that stuff is done by me anyway, but it's amazing to me how different it feels to do all of that without having my husband at the end of the day to lean on. My hat goes off again to any and all single moms who have to handle the day in and day out duties of being the mom AND provide a living for their children. I am in awe. I hope you know how amazing you are.
So while John's been gone, I tackled back to school shopping. One thing I have learned, is that to survive this task, I can not take more than one kid shopping at a time. It just isn't worth it. At least with my kids. They turn into whiny beasts the minute attention turns to someone else. So we make a date out of it. Depending on the time of day we go, I will take them to lunch or dinner and then we shop. I'm always amazed at the lack of shopping stamina that my kids have. But that worked to my good, and I was able to get 4 kids done in 3 days. :)
We were on a pretty tight budget this year, so the shopping was pretty minimal. Max's clothes pretty much all came from Old Navy. Sophie found shirt love at Forever 21's girl's section. She was so fun to shop with this year - her face lit up when she was trying on her cute choices, and she fell in love with nearly everything. It cracked me up that the Batman t-shirt was her choice for her 1st day outfit.
Megan got almost all of her clothes at F21 as well. They have such great bargains on all of the trendy clothes that she loves. I love shopping with her. She has such a fun sense of style. Bryson is probably my child who is least willing to bargain shop. He has a certain taste in clothes, and is pretty picky about what he'll get. That said though, he did end up getting a pair of jeans for $7 at F21's men's dept. So, that was 1 bargain I was thrilled with.
I can't believe that we have a Jr and Freshman in high school, and a 5th grader and that my baby is in 2nd grade now. ugh. I feel so old! I hope that this year is full of friends and fun and success - and that the drama is kept to a minimum.
I'm so blessed to have the children that I have. I am so proud of them all, and I am so excited to see how they face challenges this year and how they grow and change as people. I love this stage of my life. {and I hope once the medication kicks in, I can really engage in it}
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