Back to School Jitters

Its the last week of summer here before school starts, and there is a lot of anxiety in this house. Not from the kids though, from me!

Big A now has the sleep habits of a teen, and its tough to drag her out of bed before 9am. Mornings with the girls have always been challenging, but now even more so. School begins before 9am so Big A will have to start setting her alarm and waking up a lot earlier. Unfortunately, no matter what time she wakes up, she never moves quickly.

Little A, too, often goofs off and doesn't get her butt in gear, even after I've asked her to get ready a half dozen times. They often have me losing my shit, particularly if I have a morning client or other commitment. Getting them out the door in the morning often feels like running through quick sand.

Fortunately, both girls are motivated by food. So the new rule is that they don't get breakfast before absolutely everything is ready - they are dressed, lunches and bags packed, etc.

I am dreading school starting for several other reasons too. First off, Little A doesn't like school, so she may kick up a fuss and resist leaving in the mornings. Second, school lunches. Hate em. There is a chance the school will be starting a hot lunch program and my fingers are crossed this goes through. It would be a blessing! Third, the girls have a lot of activities. Fortunately, most (gymnastics, swimming, Hebrew school, Big A's Triple Threat theatre, dance and singing classes) are all on the weekends, but Mondays when they both have Girl Guides and Sparks, at different locations at different times, its going to be super tricky. Adam and I both often work late so its going to be a juggling act. And then there are the additional school activities Big A always wants to do (i.e. absolutely every team and club). Now before you accuse us of over scheduling our kids, keep in mind the demand to do these activities comes from them. Big A, in particular, loves to be involved in everything.

Oy, my blood pressure is rising just thinking about it all!

Friday, as per our annual tradition, we are taking the girls to the Toronto Ex. I hate it, but they love it. I am going to hate it even more this year since the weather forecast for that day is ridiculously hot and humid. Fuck!

Well, have a lovely Monday, and if you're also in Canada, enjoy the last week of summer 2015!

Comments

Book Review: The A to Z of Children's Health

Hey there, welcome to Monday! We had a delightful, relatively quiet weekend. How was yours? Hopefully no one in your home was sick...there is a lot of nasty stuff going around these days. If you're a parent, than you have probably spent far more time that you would like to desperately searching Google and/or parenting books trying to figure out if your child's rash, cough or fever warrants a trip to the doctor or if there is something that can be done to treat it. It's hard not to worry that it could be something more ominous that just an every day infection and while you'd make yourself (and everyone around you) nuts if you panicked every time your kid has the sniffles, as a parent, you naturally want to do everything in your power to prevent your child from harm. Recently I was sent The A to Z of Children's Health , written by doctors Jeremy Friedman, Natasha Saunders, and Norman Saunders, of Toronto's very own Hospital for Sick Children . One of th

How to Look Like a Celebrity

Okay, I know you're going to be interested in this post! I am sure virtually every woman in North America has wondered how Hollywood celebrities achieve such 'perfect' bodies. Well, at CAN FIT PRO last week, one of Hollywood's top fitness trainers, Eric the Trainer , was there to tell us fitness professionals the secrets! Eric the Trainer, gave several presentations, and I caught the one on Celebrity Secrets, and it was most interesting!!! I also found some of what he said rather disturbing. First off, he was very upfront about the fact that celebrities come to him for improve their appearance. Not to improve their health or athletic performance. To look their best. He admitted that his approach then, is entirely dedicated to that end. Male and female celebrities are trained in completely different ways because Hollywood wants women to be lithe and thin and in his words, "look like they dropped out of heaven looking this way without every having ste

Blackfly Coolers: Product Review

Summer is over! Well, at least if you're a student. Officially it doesn't end for a few weeks, and it certainly still feels like summer. Yeah, I hate it. This f*cking hot, humid weather needs to end NOW! We made the most of our last weekend of the summer with our annual trip to the CNE on Friday, with a crowd of friends. It wasn't unbearably lot, thank goodness, and the girls and their friends had a blast on the rides. Saturday I had to work, and Sunday was errand day. Monday we took the girls berry/apple/pear picking but didn't last long due to the heat. I organized the house to prepare for the construction workers starting back up yesterday, while Adam took the girls for a swim in our neighbourhood pool. Yesterday was the first day of school. Grade 2 and Grade 5. Yep, the girls are growing up. We are fortunate that the girls don't have much anxiety about school, they are so much more confident than I ever was as a kid! But now, in the midst of our reno ch

Healthy Life Lessons

Search This Blog