Are You Ready ?

Hi Darlings,   I was just having this conversation with my SIL on the crazy challenges that come with schools re-opening and I realized we all need to wear our Solomon's hat and chip in our 1cent here. 

Summertime is over now and so is the holidays for the children - although I know some of us still sent out these very peaceful  little ones for Summer Camp/Classes …raise your hands if you are guilty as charged (mine is raised BTW) . 

The long holidays did  some of us well as we were able to go on family trips – locally/abroad while some of us had to employ more hands to watch the kids in this very long duration… Quick question, was this vacation exceptionally long or was it just my mind ?

The new school session comes with a lot of challenges and stress even before it begins and I sometimes look at my neighbor who strings her 4 kids to school every weekday and I wonder how she deals with all of these since I have one son and he sometimes makes me want to look at quick temporary adoption papers !!!! 
I’ll want us to discuss this transition process from holiday back to school mode .

I personally dread the sudden change of routine. Say good-bye to days of sleeping in till whenever or just jumping out of bed, straight to the shower and then off to the  office . Now you have to give a detailed instruction on food Menu and  if by God your kids are attached to you,  you might need to bath  or spoon-feed before dashing out . 
On my part,  I try to plan a healthy food Menu ahead of time so that conversation never  happens in the crazy mornings  and believe me that saves me 35mins of either good sleep or traffic  . Sometimes I just want to not bother but I keep remembering a Parents' complain in my kid sister’s school years ago;  that the teacher had sent a note home asking when the Mom/Cook/Maid planned to change the pupil's lunch pack content from potato chips  and stew to  other options ??? 

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Another crazy aspect is the financial expenses that comes with this as it's not just the school fees or extra-curricular activities you need to cover but these kids need  fresh  school supplies as well and they definitely do not come cheap . I went shopping for some of these things few weeks back and at the end of the day, I had almost spent past half  his school fees figure and that got me really worried that maybe the supplies might last a lifetime if treated  with more care. So on this note, I have instructed my help on how the bag must be on the cabinet (never on the bare floor), school shoes must be sunned and polished after school (not forgotten in the rain) etc . Of course, who am I kidding as I  know our weather in this part of the world does a good job of making sure nothing last so long- the uniforms will fade from constant washing and severe sunning etc  . but I just feel so much better seeing the bag on the cabinet for now .

Enough of my whining, please share your experiences and how best you manage these endless transitions seamlessly – do you buy supplies to last eons ( I have a friend who orders 6 school bags and in that order for other things at once ),  do you use  a home meal timetable, do you need to get more help for child care etc

We are all waiting to feed off each other so please share .


SIL - Sister-in-law
BTW - By the way