I like this new schedule
At 10:45 this morning Patch did not come home. Instead he stayed at school with all the bigger kids. I knew this, but I still found myself listening for him to come through the front door. And I missed him even while I was glad to not have kids under foot for the work that needed done. Picking up three kids from school simultaneously is chaotic and seems likely to remain so. They all burst into the car with heads full of things to tell me. Three young voices raise to ever higher volumes as they try to talk over each other. I try to institute some order by declaring whose turn it is to talk, but even then they all interrupt one another. It is chaotic, but I can greet it with joy because I’ve had a long quiet day of respite. I have the energy to shepherd them into the house, find them snacks, mediate the conflicts, and require chores. Even better, I enter the evening hours ready to face the challenge of dinner because I have already gotten enough work done. Finally I have time compartments large enough to contain the tasks which must go into them. There will be busy times ahead when the work slops over into the family space, but at the moment things are good.