We have some huge changes coming up here pretty soon at Casa de Nichols. I am referring of course to the retirement of our long-term (5.5 yrs!!) sitter and the kids moving into official full-day schools. As a type-A control freak, I am not very big on change. But over the years I’ve both developed coping mechanisms for dealing with change, namely planning! I get to make lists and time tables and label things and suddenly even though I can’t control what else the change is going to do to us, I feel better because backpacks are labeled and the calendar is updated and I have a chart for making sack lunches.
So I am slowly but determinedly getting everything ready for the big shift. I have a countdown sort of going in my mind, not like 52 days, 51 days, 50 days … but practically every time I look at the calendar, I do a gut check of “Wow. Just a month until our sitter’s last day,” or “Wow, just 3 weeks until we do Kindergarten registration.” I’ve ordered Ben a nap mat – it arrived yesterday and let’s just say he hasn’t been this excited for naps in a loooong time – and some personalized stickers to label clothes and lunch containers. In all seriousness, I do have a file of links to lunch ideas. I’ve also been filling out mounds of paperwork and making sure all the things we need to do before school starts (immunizations, dentist appointments, shopping trips) are handled. And I am planning a small “thank you” dinner for our sitter.
Winston Churchill said, “There is nothing wrong with change as long as it is in the right direction.” I’m sure he was right. But I also like my change well orchestrated.
I am not one of those parents that looks forward to when their kids go back to school. I like that Olivia is back in school but it is so much extra work then the summer time when there is no routine at all. I never thought I wouldn’t like routine. And although it is literally a drag getting Olivia up in the morning for school she needs the structure. School has been good for her. And in a year little Niel is going to go to school as well. That is going to be very hard on him as one parent has been able to be home with him since birth. OIivia cried about a month when we took her and I think it is going to be a bit longer with him. I am hoping he will surprise us. Good luck with getting everything together for when both kids are in school.