The First Day of Public School

How was it?
 Well, for awhile I was thinking maybe I liked it a little too much, but I did discover some difficulties.

Last night, the kids each got a blessing from Dallin.  We had a neat discussion about some of the important things we want them to remember.  It was a nice, spiritual, emotional evening.  Mostly I was the one being emotional.  I had a good cry before bed and pretty much got it out of my system.

Side note: I did not sleep well.  It has been a problem lately, especially if I have anything on my mind or if I know I need to get up early for something. 
I have a sort of restless leg thing going on, but it is more like a restless whole body plus itching thing.  It happens anytime I hold still for more than about 5 minutes.  Yeah, church was fun on Sunday. 
For some reason when I rest during the day, it is so much easier to fall asleep.  But if I have to hold still and not sleep, I pretty much want to go crazy.

Anyway, we all got up and had our scriptures and prayers and breakfast.  The kids all got their jobs done on time without having to get up too much earlier.  Nathan has to get up at 6, though, because his bus leaves at about 7:10.  I also got up at 6 for some quiet study time before I had to start breakfast. 
I kept myself busy doing laundry while everyone got ready.  I was sad to hear the front door close and realize that Nathan had gone without saying goodbye.  He was so restless and nervous that he probably just forgot.  The other 3 left eagerly at 8:30 (though I insisted on hugs and kisses) to meet their friends at the bus stop across the street. 

The next several hours were quite lovely.  I got the little ones dressed and continued to work on laundry while they got Buzz Lightyear dressups on and watched a Christmas movie.  At one point I noticed Sarajoy was not watching the movie, and I got a little concerned because she's made a couple of naughty messes in the past few days.  By the time I put down what I was doing, I noticed her on the stairs with her baby dolls.  She was making beds for them on the steps. 
I decided to see if I could get some rest while they were happily occupied.  I read a little of the Ensign and started The Mansion.  A little while later, I was awakened by Sarajoy with her blankie and pacifiers.  She climbed right up and fell asleep beside me.  Later, Simon climbed up with a book and asked me to read to him.  What a nice, cozy time we had!

We had Simon's favorite lunch: PB&J.  Simple and easy.  We sat and read a big pile of library books together after lunch.  They helped me clean up the Autumn decor so we could start getting Christmas out.  We put up our little tree before Thanksgiving, but that was all I wanted to do last week.  Today I got out the toys we keep under the tree:  An old-fashioned wooden engine, a homemade teddy bear with Christmas jammies, A dog puppet that barks Christmas songs, a Nativity puzzle, lots of Christmas stories, a little wooden rocking  horse, and a few other little toys.  We had plenty of fun playing with those for awhile.  I decided to get the toy Nativities out so the little kids could have time to play with them before the bigger kids got home.  Sarajoy was in heaven with all of those little "baby dze-dze" toys.  We made some felt straw for our little cradle and some white blankies so she could have a baby Jesus doll.  She has carried it around all day. 

Suddenly, it was 2:00.  I knew I wanted to have the house clean and a snack ready when the kids got home.  I put the little ones down for quiet time and got to work.  I wanted to have the kitchen clean so we wouldn't have to spend time on it after dinner.  It is a big job to do alone!  How long has it been since I've had to sweep and mop.  I'm spoiled, I know!  Nathan got home just after 3:00, but stayed outside with a huge crowd of kids.  I let it go for today, but I told him from now on, I get him at 3:15!  He told me about his day while he ate muffins and I finished mopping the floor. 
Simon and Sarajoy were so excited for the other kids to get home.  Everyone got big hugs and I heard 3 more stories of a great day. 

Then I started to feel the results of working so hard and fast in the kitchen.  I was exhausted and achy.  And the kids got their homework folders out. 
Seriously?
I knew about homework, but the reality of having your little kids gone until 4pm and then having them come home and do homework is pretty ridiculous. 
Daisy, the 1st grader had the most.  Of course. 
So when is she supposed to play?  Really, that is a pretty important part of childhood. 
Simon and Sarajoy were tired and hungry and ready for some attention from siblings. 
I was trying to split my attention between 4 different homework assignments and keep dinner from burning and Dallin was late and I was completely and utterly spent. 

They finished.  He got home.  We ate.  I was grouchy.  He left again briefly on a Scout errand.
Gotta love Scouts.

Dinner clean-up WAS quick, so maybe that was worth it. 

For FHE we read our "Thankful Chain" that we've been working on for 7 or 8 years.  Everyone was so tired.  The little ones were wired and climbing all over the place.  I finally asked Dallin to get down on the floor and wrestle with them while I finished reading. 

After prayer, Dallin rushed the little ones up to bed.  It was already after 8pm.  Nobody complained that we didn't have an activity or a treat. 

I got a phone call about some free bread.  There is a breadmaker in our ward who occasionally has surplus.  I brought home 25 loaves for my freezer.  How glad I am that I won't have to make bread this month!  

When I got home, the littles were asleep, and the big kids were sitting around the table telling Dallin about their day.  I joined in with some public school memories.  It was nice.  We called it a day and they went to bed. 

How did it go? 
Ask me in a week or two.  I still don't feel like I know what it is "really" like.
Right now I just want to go to sleep.