Thursday, August 29, 2013

It's a school post



When the First Day of School came around I made sure I drank a bottle of wine the night before. I left the kitchen dirty and didn't lay out the kids' outfits. The next morning I made school lunches out of whatever I had on hand. Which ended up being some pretty good stuff, so they got lucky. Breakfast was oatmeal. One was too hot and the other was too cold. I didn't style my daughter's hair because she thought it looked pretty the way it was (half up and half down). I barely found a Sharpie to write their names on their sweaters, backpacks and lunch bags.

We headed out the door to walk to school. I didn't walk my daughter all the way to her class because she spotted her pal and went with her. I was on the phone with  Mr. CEO so I just waved my son ahead and yelled "good luck!" to his back. Then I left.

I made sure I picked them up a little late. Don't want to seem to eager. I also didn't wear any makeup.

If there's anything I've learned as a mother (and wife for that matter) it's not to set the bar too high.  If they go a week with every outfit laid out perfectly clean and pressed then what happens on that morning you sleep in and are digging through the dirty laundry to find the cleanest shirt for them to wear? Lower your standards and theirs. Even the teachers! Don't sign and return all the forms right away.  They'll come to expect it if you're on time with everything. Lower the bar and when you pull good shit off you'll look like a damn hero.  I don't go the extra mile. I save that kind of stuff for when it's really important. Like school reports or dioramas.

Your kids love you no matter what. You don't get graded every Friday for how well you did. Other moms are not comparing notes to see who is doing a better job. So go easy on yourself.
Relax, it's just life.


1 comment:

  1. OMG, I think that we were separated at birth! I'm so nonchalant about the whole back to school thing that I'm within an inch of comatose, lol.

    First day of school pictures? Nope. Artistic bento box lunches? Hell no. New clothes? No. Clean clothes? Maybe. Paperwork signed and returned on time? Between me and my ex, they're lucky if they get the papers back at all. I keep them alive, relatively clean and attempt to make sure they do their homework. Isn't that enough?

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