Back to Schoolishness

We started back to school last week without a bang. We shuffled our feet in the right direction and embraced a few old traditions for the birth of a new school year: Back to School Breakfast, School Supply Shopping Day, and Book Case Reorganization.

This year our back to school breakfast consisted of donuts, promised for babysitting duty to one teenage boy with a serious set of sweet teeth… and breakfast tacos with a side of bacon for mom. Everyone else got donuts, too. The extra sugar proved to be a thorn in my side by the time we got to Walmart. So did my poor timing. Tax free weekend ended the day BEFORE our shopping trip, which made me feel pretty unorganized knowing I could have saved a chunk of change if I had only planned my back to school traditions day the Friday before.

Toddlers + Sugar = embarrassing moments in public.

But then, nap time comes and the world is set right again.

We got through our week with a few lessons learned. In Spanish class (which started 2 weeks before the rest of their co-op courses) the big kids learned to say, “El burro sabe mas que tu” with a smile on their faces. Translation? A donkey knows more than you. That will come in handy when trying to help the Spanish speaking people who come to the food bank for help, right? Hmmmm. And of course, we learned how we might prevent future atomic toddler meltdowns at Walmart.

We also managed to bring the boxes in from the garage. After beginning a “Dave-Ramsey-esque” debt plan, we decided this year is not the one to sell the house and relocate the kids. It helped that we did the math on gas prices from my husband’s work to our proposed home on the range. It would have been nearly a house payment in fuel each month. And it might have contributed that we didn’t get ONE single call on the house while our sign was in the yard this summer`. It’s OK, though. The kids are thrilled to be able to stay closer to friends so they can dig in and participate this year with all the amazing classes and co-ops we have discovered.

In the boxes we found most of the school supplies, all of our winter clothes (still needing to be put away), much of the toys, and a TON of books. We still aren’t done with putting the mess away, but we made progress. One project (which explains the crayon wrappers above) was peeling the broken crayons to melt down with the toddlers for crafts this year.

Yes, I’m starting preschool in the middle of high school. I’m officially “one of those homeschool moms” that just seem to keep on ticking after taking a licking. God is amazing how He comes behind you to give you the nudge you need to keep going. I’m totally in awe that He would trust me with this huge undertaking… and that even with all of my mistakes and flaws, the results thus far of me just trying each day to move over and let him take the wheel with my kids have brought about the miracle that my children represent today. They are so fantastic. Each of them.

Since we school year round, here’s what we do to set apart the new school year from the old one:

1. Back to School Breakfast (CHECK)

2. Organize our book cases and supplies (WORKIN’ ON IT)

3. Set our goals and review our past school year (SOON)

4. Mama plans the school year & enters all the assignments in Homeschool Tracker

5. Pray over the year… and dive in to our new materials & supplies!

So that’s how we start off our year…

And hopefully, this week we will truly begin our school year. As soon as mama and the kids return from an out-of-town trip to get the car fixed. It’s always something, right?

For now, we’ll continue… road tripping home, finishing up last year’s history, plodding along with our amazing Beth Moore Bible study that will continue through October, putting away boxes full of books, organizing supplies, revisiting back to school traditions, and being thankful for the fun activities we have on our schedule this year.

We’re very grateful for a new slate — a new year — a fresh start.

{ Don’t you just love the start of a new school year? }

Subscribe to Sprittibee by Email