18 days!!!!
My girls went to bed tonight awash with anxiety and nerves. Well, Daisy and Zoe, at least. I think Eva’s okay. She’s in her last year of elementary school, and she has a ton of friends and one of our favorite teachers, so she’s going to be just fine. Those other two, though… I love the school year, but I hate dealing with their anxiety. Daisy gets insecure, irritable, critical, and physically ill. Zoe gets whiney and irrational. I have to try and stay calm, empathetic, and reasonable when all I want to do is scream.
So that’s fun.
But anyway… yesterday and today we have been busy getting ready for school and enjoying our last few moments of summer. I made daily checklists for everyone, organized Eva’s room so she can start off on a tidy note, and made a list of home lunch ideas. I went over everyone’s class schedules, made them pack their backpacks, and had them choose their first day outfits. We did priesthood blessings and went over a few rules and expectations for the school year (for Zoe it was like the world was ending when I told her she can’t watch any TB u til her afternoon checklist is done. Heaven for in you do 7 minutes of responsible tasks before you turn on Gravity Falls!)
On Sunday our kids participated in their grandma’s annual back to school fashion show. The kids do this be wry year - they strut the red carpet in a few new school outfits, and then Grandma gives everyone a bag of school supplies and a book.
Then last night we had our traditional back to school dinner. Every year is a little different. Sometimes I do a theme, sometimes I don’t. This year I did a theme, “If you can’t find the sunshine, be the sunshine.” I decorated with sunflowers (everything of which I already had) and then I gave each of my girls a sunflower pencil pouch with a bracelet, a pen, and a pack of sticky notes inside (all with sunflowers) and then a pair of sunflower socks. We ate BLTs, tater tots, and mixed fruit made from all the random fruit in our fridge that needed to be used up. Then I made Daisy bake us some brownies for dessert.
I made that pennant banner about five years ago, and it’s still going strong! I got the sunflower garland on clearance at Hobby Lobby last year.
Sunflowers from my garden
Zoe
Eva and Daisy
(Eva happened to wear a sunflower shirt that day, completely unplanned)
(I always love when I’m able to use things I already have).
Today was a whirlwind. I went to the junior high for a few hours with Zoe for her orientation. Then I had to get Daisy to the high school to help her theatre teacher do some work on her classroom. I came home, watered the garden, and then got everyone ready for an outing. My mom picked up Daisy and then came and got the rest of us, and we went to lunch and to get pedicures. Nicky called unexpectedly while we were out and about. Today was his last day in the MTC. He had to turn his phone in at 4:00 pm and will be issued another one when he gets settled in Puerto Rico, so he was able to call home.
After lunch, we had our pedicures. Now everyone has nicely polished toes for school (in an era where they refuse to let anyone see their “dawgs” - why is everything so weird and pervy nowadays?)
Zoe has some sensory struggles, so she wasn’t the most pedicure-friendly child, but she likes the way her toes turned out. The lady doing the pedicure just kind of gave up on her.
My mom and Daisy
After our pedicures we came home, got some stuff done around the house, and ate dinner. Then we went to see Freakier Friday for our last hurrah before school.
Tomorrow begins a new school year and a new routine. I have kids in three schools again (last year I got a break and only had two schools). Pray with me that Daisy passes her driver’s test the first go round and feels confident enough to drive herself to school starting mid-September. That will help me maintain my sanity (I say that as if I have any left!)
Here’s to the 2025-26 school year!
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