It was nice while it lasted,wasn’t it? Sleeping until 8. Planning the days as we went. Living by the moment. Forgetting the rules. That was Summer. This is now. Time to return to school. Now it’s back to a schedule. Back to making to-do lists. Back to homework. Back to expectations and goals. And back to the stress. For some reason,this year seems even more stressful of a start that in years past.
Part of the stress is personal. We are house hunting,in hopes of moving to a new place with more space for the kids. Part of it is that I’ve committed to a large role in the Parent Association as the chair of the school’s largest annual fundraiser. Part of it is coming back to LA after 2 months of being out of town. Whatever the cause,I’m having a hard time getting back into the swing of things. I went from having summer jello brain to having so many thoughts spinning in my head that I keep waking at 3 in the morning. And I had a headache last night for the first time in months.
I hope this isn’t indicative of how the year is going to go. I hope that this rough start will calm down and I’ll fall into some sort of rhythm. I ended the last school year totally in synch with my kids and our routine,and now I feel like I’m trying to dance the waltz to salsa music.
And,of course,we have yet another injury. My oldest broke his ankle while at a trampoline place. Before you judge me for having allowed him to go,you should know that he was taken without my permission by his best friend’s mom who also signed the parental waiver without my approval. And before you tell me that I should sue the mother and give her a dozen pieces of my mind,trust me when I tell you that she is beside herself with remorse. Sometimes being forgiving has more impact that being mad.
As if that wasn’t enough,we also are being told that one of our children may have ADHD,so I’m up to my eyeballs in research. You have to love how the experts try scare the living daylights out of you when it comes to providing information and stats on “conditions”. I was 5 pages into my first book on ADHD only to discover that people with ADHD have a 30% greater chance of being addicted to drugs,a 40% greater chance of having a hard time keeping a job,and a 50% greater chance of getting divorced. Only later do they tell you that these stats apply to people who go untreated. I’ll have more info to share on this on another day…
So,as you can see,this year for me Back to School = Back to Stress. I sort of feel like one of the Olympic sprinters who trips out of the blocks. But I’m hoping that despite my stumbling at the start,I’ll still have a good time. And that I don’t pull all of my hair out along the way.
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