For all my planning and practicing with the kids, we’re still noticing that things got kicked into a higher gear this week. Today was the first day of nursery, so our day looked like this:
– Just before 7am, Erin up and in workout clothes, and wrestling the kids into their clothes
– After some banana and apple, Nathaniel is loaded into the stroller and Katherine is on her scooter, and we make the 1.7-mile walk to nursery (through the parks, up through a quiet residential area, and past several schools)
– By 8 both kids are in their classrooms (Nathaniel crying for a minute or two, Katherine looking with big eyes, thumb in mouth, and staying quiet, but ready to send me away so she can get on with her play), and I’m running/walking back home to shower, eat, and get to the library
– Halfway through my library stint, Sydney joins me in the elegant Upper Reading Room in the library, filled with big windows and lots of people who seem to be doing serious work. I am putting the final polishes on a journal article myself, so for once I seem to be one with the crowd.
– By 12:30 I’ve dropped my computer off at the house, grabbed an apple for the kids, and am making my way back north to the nursery. I am wondering if I can buy some clothes that double as workout gear and serious professional woman gear, but then realize that I mostly just own the former and it’s unlikely that they make work clothes for sweating in anyway.
– By 1:30 the kids and I are home, and I’ve tucked them into their beds for nap time. Thankfully, Katherine does eventually settle down from the excitement and go to sleep, which Nathaniel does right away upon getting home.
– Our late afternoon and evening is filled with bits and pieces of reporting from Katherine (songs they sang at nursery, and things her teachers said to her throughout the day), and then we head out for a long family walk. Other days will have more cooking in them (we had lots of leftovers to eat today), and, I hope, less laundry, but we’ll be doing this routine three times a week from now on. For people who have had nearly no structure for a few years, this is quite a change!
There will be more adventures this week: in addition to our three nursery mornings, we’ll be taking a short family vacation down to a small town in Devon, on the southern coast of England, on Wednesday and Thursday. We figured that one night was all we could afford to be away, particularly since you really stop enjoying things if the kids miss too many naps in a row! We will try to pack lightly and enjoy the local food and farms, the beach, birdwatching, and small-town life. And we’ll take our camera! We’ll be celebrating my birthday, our anniversary, our reunited family, and a bit of quiet before school and the job market get into full swing, so we intend to really enjoy our holiday.
Erin
Alan Schmierer
I felt my anxiety level go up, just reading about the morning! It was deja vu for me, back into the 80’s. You have quite the pace to maintain throughout the morning and early afternoon. It sounds as if the babies did well, however, and it will be fun to hear of their exploits at school.
Enjoy the trip!