#SOL18 Calendar Filling Up

My summer calendar was pretty open. A few appointments here and there but mostly stretches of sunny days without many to-do's. We haven't turned the calendar to September yet, but my September calendar is full! Doctor's appointments, sports, activities, back to school nights for my kids, back to school nights for me. I'm feeling a rising panic about how much there is to do and how to fit it all in, like a jigsaw puzzle I can't seem to place properly. 

 When I was kid-free, I would spend weeks getting my classroom ready. Now, with two school-age kids, that type of time isn't available. I'm grateful for two amazing Grandmas who are willing to take the kids for pockets of time so I can set up. But even that feels like the crunch- appointments sandwiched in between those hours to make sure my hair is back to school ready, too.  Playdates set up so the kids can have some fun with their school friends before heading back to class next week. The days aren't an endless stretch of time for me to prepare for back to school, as they used to be. Since I've been teaching for 17 years, you would think I wouldn't need all the time in the world but if you saw my classroom currently, you would understand why I feel a little panicky. 

 Time is a fixed commodity. We all get the same amount each day. I need to figure out how to make this all work without feeling crazy and completely overwhelmed. 

 Summer's not over, but the summer feeling is. 

Comments

  1. Ms. ErikaAugust 28, 2018 at 8:45 AM

    I get it- that last minute squeezy feeling! Here I am in week 4 back at school. Summer feels a long way in the past. I hope you find a way to cram in a few more summer memories and still feel like your classroom and brain are ready for the start.
    Erika

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  2. Molly HoganAugust 28, 2018 at 11:35 AM

    I can so relate to your post, and I don't even have kids at home anymore. I'm feeling very positive about heading back to school, but I'm dreading the dramatic rev-up in pace. It's hard not to respond by feeling frantic. Hang in there!

    ReplyDelete
  3. BarbaraSutAugust 29, 2018 at 2:45 PM

    Kathleen...surely you know the saying, "If you want to get something done, give it to a busy person." I believe this means that a task can get done in a much shorter amount of time than we think. I, for one, now take hours to get things done since I retired, when I used to accomplish the same things in half the time. I now have the gift of "taking my time." Believe it or not, only you will know the little things that didn't get done in your classroom before school begins. And they will get done eventually. So...relax! Enjoy those important few days left before school begins to spend quality time with your family and yourself. You'll be back on the hamster wheel before you know it and wishing you had just not spent those final days of summer worrying about what's to come. (Perhaps there are a couple of things on your list you won't accomplish in time, but the world will not come to an end. I promise you.)

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