Same Time, Last Year

A year ago, it was Zane's first day of Pre-K at a new school.  St. Monica's had a Pre-K program, and we felt that he wasn't being challenged at his daycare.  So we enrolled him, and paid the fees and the tuition, and we bought the bajillions of school supplies that the school required.

The first day of school arrived, and my son was having none of that.  He had decided that he did not want to go to school. 

"Next year," he told his mother and father.  My husband and I tried to be reasonable.  We explained about how much fun he would have.  We explained about nonrefundable fees.  We talked about how school is technically Zane's job, and how he needed to work just as hard as his parents so he could pay for our nursing homes. 

When all of that failed, I did something that I swore I would never do as a parent.  I am ashamed to say that I bribed my child, right there in front of the statue of the Virgin Mary.  I told my only child that if he smiled and tried to have a good day, I would bring him a SUPER SECRET SURPRISE when we picked him up. I felt guilty for about five seconds. It worked; the boy perked right up and had a great first day of school, and there was a Lego set waiting for him when he got home. 

This year, Zane will be starting Kindergarten.  Kindergarten.  Zane will have to wear a uniform--a white(!!!) shirt with blue shorts and black shoes(Catholics are not known for their fashion sense--I would have gone with a brown shoe, myself).  For a boy used to wearing brightly colored soccer jerseys every day, this will be a monumental change.  Kindergarten will be an all day event this year. Zane is used to having his afternoons off, where he gets to color and play to his heart's content.  This new schedule may throw him, at first.  Zane may also have issues with some of the new rules and responsibilities of Kindergarten, depending on how strict his teacher is. My son is a high-energy child, and some days it may be impossible for him to stay seated at his table. I may get a phone call or two. 

Luckily, I have a new job that is much closer to home, so if I need to head over there, I can.  I will actually be able to pick him up earlier than last year, and I am glad for that.  By working closer to home, I will have almost an extra hour each day to be with my son. What mother doesn't want that?


What were you blogging about a year ago?  What has changed? 

Overwhelmed

Streams of Consciousness Sunday is here again.  The Notebook Sisters have this link, and I am participating.  You should too!  I don't know about everyone else, but I have a tendency to agonize over every sentence and worry about the nuance of every word.  It all has to be perfect!  This sort of an exercise, in which you just set the timer and start typing, is great for getting out of a writing rut. 

The prompt for today is: Overwhelmed.

Women seem to feel overwhelmed more than men. I am not sure why, but perhaps it is that we tend to "take on" the issues or projects of those closest to us.  For example, when my husband is running around like a chicken with his head off because it's the day before school and he can't find his favorite pair of pants, I tend to experience his emotional distress, even if I pretend that I don't.  I don't want to feel stressed by his lack of planning or his tendency to never put things back where he found them, but he's my husband.  I love him and want him to be happy.  That marriage thing is about sharing burdens, instead of pointing and laughing. 

My son is the same way.  He will forget where he put something, or he will leave something upstairs and want me to rescue him by getting it for him.  Part of me wants him to be happy, so I put a foot on the stair.  The other part of me, the one that wants an independent child to become an independent adult, points upstairs and tells my son to go and get it himself.  I still feel his distress. I seem to collect the distress of my loved ones. 

It is Sunday before the first day of school for my husband and I, and the first week promises to be overwhelming with new routines and new tasks that must be completed.  I want to start the week off right, so Monday morning is not completely overwhelming. I will put all of my things out that I will need for Monday, and I will tell my husband to do the same.  Maybe this will alleviate a little of the stress, and I won't feel so overwhelmed. 

Want to play?  There are just 5 steps...

1. Set your timer and write for 5 minutes.

2. Publish! (No editing. This is rough, unrefined writing.)

3. Grab our SOC button from the sidebar.

4. Sign in with our LinkUP on Sundays.

5. Stop by the other blogs and say hey!