Elliott went back to school, starting second grade on July 28. Wyatt started kindergarten the following week. Two weeks after that, they were both "off-track", and home, for the next three weeks and two day.
RIDICULOUS!
So now, my boys are home, stir crazy with itchy trigger fingers while the whole world is back in school. I really tried to plan ahead and be prepared for our break, planning as many activities as I could think of. It's really quite hard to have no school at the end of August/beginning of September. There are no camps or clinics to participate in and pretty much no lessons to sign up for. The summer is "over" and the boys and I are on our own.
So, I made a calendar and hatched some plans and last Monday, we were off....to swimming lessons. Thank heavens for swimming lessons. The pool we swim at decided to do a mini, two week, 40 minute, six session set of classes and I was able to sign the big boys up and it's been great. Small classes - only two kids in Elliott's and 4 in Wyatt's and they've been doing amazing. And, luckily, Elliott at least has soccer practice and a weekly goalie clinic to keep him going during the day with something to look forward to in the evening.
I know that there are a lot of kids who will sit and watch TV or play video games or even read books all day. My children are not, good or bad, programmed that way, and it's exhausting. For me anyway. They need to be going and doing at all times; they need to know the plan for the day as soon as they wake up; they need activities and a schedule and adventures a plenty. Phew! It makes me tired just thinking about it, but honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way. The house is a complete mess and last Friday I had a complete panic attack and ran away for a few hours the second Ross got home from work, but, overall, we're really doing well this off track period (fingers crossed and knock on wood).
The one thing I didn't take into account last week was the rain. I failed to realize that Utah was going to turn into Seattle or Portland and pretty much deal with rain, daily, for nearly the last two weeks. It's made our off-track outside plans be swapped for inside plans, which I wasn't prepared for. But, in spite of the rain, we were brave, found some jackets, and did one of our activities as scheduled last week. We went to the mountains for a hike. I was ready to chicken out, but Wyatt convinced me that the weather would cooperate, because he is after all an eternal optimist (which I love him for) and we headed up Big Cottonwood Canyon to the Brighton Ski Resort for a walk around Silver Lake.
My oh my! It was beautiful! It had just stopped raining shortly before our arrival so the mountains were went and calm, and smelled like Christmas. I never realized it before, but wet pine trees seem to just ooze their piny sent, and the smell of fresh clean piny air was just heavenly. It was a pretty nice walk around the lake, the boys were so good and I had a chance to enjoy my kids and clear my head a little. Quinn made it about half of the walk - which was at least half a mile all on his own, before he just stopped, looked at me and said, "No walk, Mama. Up, please." So, I carried him the rest of the way, but it wasn't too bad and he fell asleep on the way home, which easily made up for the carrying.
Our hours in the mountains easily made up for the stress of off-track. If only we could have spent the whole week up in the mountains.
No comments:
Post a Comment