I saw that somewhere on Pinterest the other day. I was looking for some ideas to help start the new school year off in a fun way. Seems like most of the people in our house are dreading the big day tomorrow. I think Haley is the only one really looking forward to going back to school.
My feelings are mixed. They usually are, but I'm a bit less ready than usual this year. For starters, summer really did go by so fast. Then, with my job this year, I didn't really get to spend much time with them over the summer doing fun things. I think summer really sucked for my kids this year. You'd think they'd all be dying to get out of the house. I am looking forward to getting back into the routine that the school year brings, not so much to having to wake up earlier every day.
Jason and Justin got to go meet their teachers Thursday night, they seem pretty amazing. I hope the boys will like them. Jason keeps telling me he hates school, but I think he'll be find once he gets back into the habit. He is such a helpful boy, and both his teacher so far gave just adored him. I hope he'll continue to be my rock star. I'm a little concerned that Justin will have problems tomorrow morning. He typically has a tough time starting a new school year, and he hasn't really said if he's excited or not to go back, but this evening he seemed pretty subdued about it; so I'm a bit worried tomorrow morning will be filled with tears from him. Fingers are crossed that it will be better than I'm expecting. The boys will also be riding the bus for the first time this year and so I'm a bit nervous about that. I'll be following the bus to school in the morning (I want to get pics with their teachers, among other concerns), but I'm mostly worried about whether they'll recognize the stop they're supposed to get off at on the way home. I'll be saying extra prayers tomorrow.
Ashley won't be taking seminary this year. She ditched quite a bit last year, so I made a deal with her then, that if she would just finish out the school year, I wouldn't force her to take it this year. I also told her that I do expect her to continue attending church regularly instead. I'm also hoping to be better at family prayer and scripture study in the mornings to help make up the difference. I'm not historically good at making this a regular occurrence, so hopefully I can turn over a new leaf this year. Another concern with Ashley last year was her grades. They dropped dramatically, mostly because she wasn't doing her homework. When I talked to her about it, she would say that she didn't understand why she had to do homework, or that she was just having trouble focusing. We did take her to a psychologist to rule out anything like ADD or depression. He seemed pretty confident that it was neither. I'm pretty sure she wasn't doing drugs or being bullied. The consensus seemed to be that it was just the adjustment to high school life. Though, I'm not convinced she wasn't perhaps a little bit depressed. I'm pretty lazy too, and that's probably rubbed off on her a bit. I can understand not wanting to do homework, but find it hard to understand why she can't grasp that it needs to be done anyway. HOPING for a better year for her. We've told her we expect her best effort. Certainly doesn't have to be all A's, just passing grades. She is SO not a people person, and is really not looking forward to the new year. I'm hoping she'll come to at least enjoy it this year.
As for Haley, she is looking forward to school. I'm so happy someone is! She will be taking two band classes this year. Intermediate band, and Jazz band. She's excited for that. Last year she learned to play the baritone, which she'll continue this year and is thinking that she'll probably play the trombone for Jazz band. I hope she'll have an awesome year.
To try to boost everyone's spirits I threw a little School Years Eve party this evening. I was inspired by Stephanie Nielson and how she always throws a wonderful back to school feast for her children before the start of their school year. Ours certainly wasn't a feast, but I tried to prep some yummy finger foods that we all like to eat and bought the kids a few fun treats from the dollar store.
They seemed to enjoy the extra bit of fun. Maybe I'll make it a tradition.
Hopefully I remember to snap a bunch of pictures in the morning.
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