4 kids- 2 in high school and 2 in middle school.
That’s 7 classes per middle schooler and 6 classes per high schooler.
7+7+6+6=26 classes
26 classes that I now feel responsible for knowing what’s going on.
As each kid left the cozy single classroom of elementary school I washed my hands of knowing where they were on any given moment while in the care of their respective schools.
Even under dire circumstances I couldn’t name every single class they take and teacher they report to.
I’ve let the schools do their job shepherding them through,
and to date they’ve done a glorious job with minimal oversight from me.
Sure, I would feel like a far better parent knowing all those details.
But I have other things to occupy myself as well.
Menus to plan (ha-on a rare organized week maybe),
groceries to procure (usually the staples that I somehow magically though painfully turn into dinner with minimal forethought),
items to replace (pencils, binders, shoes, clothes, sporting goods, the list is impressively never ending),
all kinds of very important items left strewn about the house that need to be put away,
laundry (soooo much laundry),
bills to pay (the list is mind-numbingly long for both home and business).
I have a job that requires me to be professional 10 hours each week. It’s a modest number of hours, but about all my overloaded mind can handle.
Also a family business to help along.
Now, in addition to everything that is a black hole inside my head, on a normal day, I get to add something that I had crossed off my list of things to try to manage
(that’s rare for me, I’m a terrible delegator...)
Class work.
Sure it’s in place of the 50 million practices and games I typically worried about making sure everyone attended that needed to.
Today I received 7 emails and 10 skyward messages, and the day is not done.
Yesterday, a Sunday, I received 5 emails.
I’m not certain which applies to which kid.
And I know the high schoolers are getting messages I’m not privy to via Schoology.
Now I need to study my kids’ skyward accounts to figure out which class and teacher belong to which kid, then decipher all the messages coming in.
Actually, first I need to figure out how to access the high schoolers’ skyward accounts.
I’m sure I’ll have a moment of mental clarity where it all makes sense so I can lay out a plan for these kids to map out their day and learning schedule.
But today I’m going a bit easy on myself.
Minimal mental clarity in the clutter that goes hand-in-hand with 5-6 of us home all day.
Minimal mental clarity when I’m asked 4x3+ times a day what there is to eat.
Minimal mental clarity after a rainy 5 mile run.
Minimal mental clarity when the dog just ate half a loaf of Nordic bread I just made today.
Minimal mental clarity when trying to motivate myself to do laundry,
tidy up,
plan dinner,
figure out how long I can make it before going back to the store without scurvy setting in.
When they were little, and went to bed at a decent hour, I could squeeze in a few minutes of mental clarity at the end of each day.
Now, Elsa reading to me at 10pm puts me into a stupor I just can’t shake.
My only hope are the early morning hours, after coffee has kicked in just enough, yet before the house wakes.
It looks like I have a plan for my morning.
Oh goody, email number 8 just popped into my inbox.
Better read the latest update from the high school principal.
Wish me luck, I’m not expecting I’ll pull much off.
For Christ’s sake, I can’t even get the kids to put their shoes away.
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