Conflicts

The kids have been back in school for a few weeks now. It seems like every.single.solitary.night there is something back-to-school and wonderful. :) The hardest part has been figuring out my new driving schedule.

Chris has his license so he can drive himself to seminary & go pick up pizza for date night. We are still hunting for a car for him to use. We were going to buy our friend’s car but the transmission exploded on the freeway a few days before we were going to take ownership. He is a senior in high school. Last week, we had his senior portraits taken, and I am just amazed at how fast the time has gone!! He is taking a college history class plus a full load (art, English, probability & stats, senior project, etc.). Before school (6:10 a..m) he takes seminary (church class) & after school he runs cross country.

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Ryan is busy with middle school. When I went to back-to-school night, I was overwhelmed with the amount of homework that the teachers were assigning. I pick Ryan up at after school, bring him home for 15”, & then drive him to the high school where he runs cross country. The coach is amazing - hilarious sense of humor but very serious at the same time. (A few examples: “My favorite food after the meets is Mexican food - and I drive the bus so it’s the kids’ favorite food too.” and “Zach, did you write this with your left foot?” (horrible handwriting)) Cross country goes until 5:45-ISH & then on two afternoons he has baseball from 5-7. Meets are the same day as baseball practice & baseball tourneys. Somehow it will all work but so far it’s a little complicated.

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Jared is loving elementary school. He gets to ride the bus home every day - the stop is variable though depending on what time I catch up with the bus. The district changed the route so they drive past our stop, make three stops in the neighboring neighborhood & then one more in our stop before coming to our entrance. It’s pretty ridiculous but does give me plenty of chances to catch up. :) He spends lots & lots of time in the bus & the car. It’s too bad he is not a big reader so he could have something productive to do with all of his riding time.

I read THE FUNNIEST notice to the public education system. It is here: http://beautopotamus.blogspot.com/2011/08/beautopotamus-family-disclosure.html . I truly admire teachers and the work that they do, but sometimes there are unrealistic demands placed on the family & I get what she was trying to say. She has TEN kids so everything is magnified a little, but the principles are still the same. I wanted to stand up & cheer when one of Ryan’s teachers announced that he would not be assigning projects. As I said in the past, projects are Mom-Work instead of homework. Happy to have at least one educator on my side.