Thanks to you, I know I’m not alone. I’m not lazy. I’m not disorganized. I’m not crazy. Well, at least not as pertains to one particular subject: getting the kids off to school.
My daughter starts kindergarten in the fall. She’s got some butterflies, but we know she’s ready and she’ll be fine. That is, if we ever manage to get her there at all. Our current morning routine is pretty set in stone, but it’s not time-dependent. The clock starts ticking when the kids wake up and we manage to get them to daycare about an hour later. The thing is, they don’t wake up at the same time every day. That means we drop them off anywhere within a window of about an hour and a half. Our new school, rigid as it is, frowns on that.
And this is without having to pack a lunch and two snacks. That additional task may upset our delicate balance. It may push me over the edge.
You more experienced parents out there are shaking your heads: “Everybody learns sooner or later,” you’re thinking. Or maybe even, “Well, if that’s your biggest problem …”
But I know plenty of you are also nodding along with me. I know because when we asked readers of our e-newsletter about their biggest back-to-school headaches, the answers looked frighteningly like the inside of my head: managing morning chaos (by far the most popular answer), packing lunches, enforcing bedtimes, dealing with piles of paperwork, shopping for school supplies — it was like a roll call of a summer’s worth of bad dreams. (See more on page 48.) And this came from seasoned parents who have been through the return to school many times before. So it doesn’t get easier, I thought, but at least I’m not alone. Maybe some of you out there want to share some tips for getting out the door smoothly. Send them to me at tcornell@mnpubs.com. I promise to test drive just about any idea and get back to you. (You should also check out Marti Erickson’s eminently practical back-to-school tips on page 17.)
In the meantime, on the top of my back-to-school shopping list, sadly, is an alarm clock.
