It’s been a non-stop fun ride here at the Burrus Zoo. In addition to surviving almost three solid weeks of sickness, fevers, ER visits, projectile vomiting, etc., etc., we’ve also had some pretty huge milestones come and go. Jack has started kindergarten, and it’s been great so far. Sure there was some whining and crying (on both our parts), but now that we’ve gotten in the swing of it, things are really looking up.
A side effect that I wasn’t expecting was the positive influence his new grown up lifestyle would have on the trips. While he does his homework (i.e. color sheets or practice words), the trips do homework, too. And I try to keep it on a similar vein. As a result, Will and Tom are “reading” Goodnight Moon almost word for word and recognizing simple sight words elsewhere.
And because we’ve been forced to be more regimented and organized in the morning (7:30 drop-off comes REALLY early), the whole morning madness has calmed considerably. The trips are really proud to help get themselves dressed just like their big brother does. And thanks to a fortunate find at Target, everyone has their own shoe bin in the kitchen. That alone has made our world a MUCH better place.
There’ve been funny moments and poignant ones. And I wish I could document more, but I’m kind of caught up in living it right now. Don’t know how often blogging is going to factor into the madness, but I’m working on it. I promise.
Oh yes, the routine is a big help! Enjoy your shift to school days… the next step up will appear all too soon!
And I hesitate to remind you of your recent past, but congratulations on surviving what sounds like one of those apocalyptic periods of family life that people will refer to at family reunions in years to come – “hey, do you remember that time when Everyone had the Plague? And they called in the SWAT team to control the germs, and the crime-scene clean-up crew to deal with the toxic loads in the washing machine? Oh, um, sorry Jodi, I forgot we weren’t supposed to mention that story – would you like a cup of tea? Glass of wine? Bottle of brandy? Maybe a Yarn Cruise will help banish the nightmares….”
Put a sock in it, Kate. My only effective means of survival is a complete lack of short term memory. 😉 And I’ll happily take the tea, wine, brandy AND the Yarn Cruise. Name the time and place. 😀