Holding on to Summer

Holding on to Summer September 4, 2017

Filed under: Simply Me — Amy Scott @ 10:33 pm

September 1st has always been my unofficial start to fall. The calendar would change over to September and I would be ready to embrace all things autumn. This year is different though. September is often warm, but right now we are in the middle of a heat wave. Things here are HOT. It’s hard to feel like summer is over when it’s 90+ outside for what seems like days on end. I haven’t wanted the summer vibes to end because it also meant embracing a new schedule for our family. A preschool schedule. I’ve never had kids in school before, so summer could end on August 31st and I could accept that. But now, summer officially ends tomorrow… Well, really Wednesday. Tomorrow Owen has his preschool orientation and then class starts on Wednesday. The orientation is a chance to meet the teacher and see the classroom. Both are things that Owen has already done, but we will go for the formality of. I heard his teacher will be taking his picture, so I made sure to give him a bath tonight and I will do my best to not have him dress like a shlub tomorrow.

In a lot of ways, I’m really looking forward to this preschool transition. Graham is really easy going on his own. He has no one to annoy him, hurt him, fight with. I might have a chance to productive in the mornings… or watch TV of my choosing. Graham doesn’t voice his opinion too much about TV shows, so if I want to watch HGTV all morning, he won’t put up a fuss. Just give Graham a train or a car and constant access to snacks and he is golden.

I am, however, a little sad tonight. I packed Owen’s backpack today. I put in some slightly bigger clothes since he has outgrown the others that have been in there for a year. I added some moist towelettes and there you go. What else does an almost 4 year old need for preschool? He is such a big boy and very ready for preschool. Just this week he learned how to spell his name out loud. He still can’t write his letters, but he is good at tracing them. Hopefully preschool will help with the writing skills. All of his art work is still very abstract. His days of scribbling aimlessly are numbered. From here on out there will be school and focused learning and eventually homework and tests that matter… The educational path starts this week.

I’m worried I’m going to miss him too much. Granted he will gone 7.5 hours a week (plus travel time since he will go with Jeremy to and from preschool most days). I never understood why parents freaked out about their kids starting school. What? You’ll miss them? Do a happy dance. But I get it now. While I am not the type of mom who wants my kids with me 24/7, it will be a change to have him gone and in the care of someone else on a regular basis.

This is a new routine. This is change. I’m truly believing that this is going to be awesome. Owen loves to learn and play and make friends. He is mostly helpful and ready for anything. He is extremely goofy and LOUD. He sings “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad” at the top of his lungs and talks constantly. I know that his presence will be missed during those mornings he is away. His absence will be undeniably. It will be felt. Mondays will my day at home with both boys. Fridays will still be our family day with Jeremy, but the middle of the week is about to change for us.

I’ll share and post later on this week with an update and hopefully some cute preschool pics. I’m a mixed feelings mess over preschool, I can’t even imagine kindergarten… At least I have two years until that big jump. I’m glad that preschool is a baby step for both Owen and I toward the goal of all day school. Say a little prayer for us as we transition to a new schedule and start a brand new adventure!

Here are some pictures from our last week of summer. We took off on Friday for a day at the beach with Jeremy and it was beautiful, fun, wonderful and all the things a family outing for a last hurrah of summer should be. We are blessed!