The end of the stumble
You know how you’re walking along and then you trip over something, but you don’t fall on your face, you just continue to stumble and trip, almost falling down, but not quite, until you finally catch your balance again? Starting school today was like that. Not like the stumbling part, but like catching balance at the end of the stumbling. Suddenly, instead of every moment needing full attention and wild flailing, there is just a calm walking rhythm. I don’t think I fully realized how chaotic the summer was until I reached today. I had all the kids out the door by 8 am. I had the critical business tasks done by 11 and there were still several quiet hours left in the day. Now I’m in the afternoon when all the kids are around and I don’t spend any time in my office. This evening there will be dinner and homework and an early bedtime. This isn’t the first day of a new routine. This is having my old routine back where it belongs.