I'm Doing the HAPPY DANCE That School Starts Next Week. Anyone Else????

I am one of those weird moms, I guess...b/c I am not ready for my kids to go back yet! We still have 20 days of summer vacation left and I can't believe it has gone by so fast?

Having all my kids home is so much fun and I love every bit of it!
My kids are 17,8,6&4...so this year I will have a Senior, a 3rd grader, a 1st grader and a 3day a week pre-schooler! Where does the time go?

~For what its worth...I don't understand all the moms who, like you, are excited to have them go back! Ha!

My daughter started kindergarten on Monday and I had to control myself from peeling out of the parking lot...LOL.

Well, I'm one who's sad. BUT I work FT so I'm not home with GD all day anyway. I'm sad that I now have to worry about homework, getting her up and out the door on time, etc. Summer is much easier for me.

Well, I'm one of those freaks who mourns the loss of summer every year. I enjoy the carefree unscheduledness of it all. Last few weeks I am cramming all the swimming, trips to the lake, hiking, late night trips to get ice cream. I will fight it tooth and nail!

Course THIS year I've got TWO college students, 20 and 18 yo old BOYS, and I gotta tell ya, they are EATING ME OUT OF HOUSE AND HOME! I cannot keep food in the house, geez!

So in a few weeks, it'll just be me and the girl (15) all the time.

It's sad, the three of them are tight. Will be weird for her when they leave.

So yeah, I am in NO particular hurry to get up at 515 every morning and have to worry about all the school stuff.

I've just always enjoyed them. Wish I had a few more years.

Sniff.

:(

I'm with Theresa. I hate it when summer ends and my kids go back to school. I get such a kick out of my kids and we have so much fun in the summers... plus, it's just easier- no homework, activities are scales WAY back, we just chill together. Alot!

School started today and I'm sad. I wish we didn't start until after Labor Day. :(

I see things from both sides; a parent and a teacher. They are closely intertwined, so I'll try my best to explain how I feel about summer ending without the lines blurring too much. As a parent, I get what you are saying about their fighting and whining... it does ramp up at this point in the summer for sure. My oldest is excited about her 2nd grade teacher and class. My little one is starting kindergarten, but because she starts at literally the worst time of the year for me (because I am a teacher starting up my own class), I haven't had time to dwell on the fact that she is entering school. This is probably a very good thing... I am not sure how I'm going to handle her first day, since I get choked up just thinking about it. But I truly love summer - the ease of throwing flip flops on and just GOING, the long days, the lack of pressure to have dinner on the table by a certain time, the extra quality time with the kids, just talking and playing.

As a teacher, I get excited about meeting my new class, beginning a new year or learning, and seeing my teacher friends again. And yes, I even enjoy meeting the parents for the first time! But I am NEVER ready for the constant stress headaches, the piles of papers I don't get to correcting because I have my own family and don't wish to work all weekend at home, the unreasonable demands from administrators, the fact that the job of a teacher has become disproportionately way too large for one mere woman to tackle. And of course, the slamming we get from the public, when we are working our tails off and sacrificing our own time and money for our students, yet it never seems to be enough.

So there's my mixed bag of emotions and feelings. Enjoy your quiet time at home without your older two.

I'm with you. I can't wait for school to start. We still have 2 1/2 weeks left though. I was ready for school to start a week after summer started, lol!

My kids already started school. They are on week 3.
Now, it is even busier.

Not me. My boy starts kindergarten in a few weeks, and I don't want him to go! I love not being tied to a schedule and being able to be as flexible as we want. I love not having to wake up early. I love not having to worry about packing a lunch. I'm not looking forward to dealing with homework. But mostly I think I'm going to miss him. :(

OTOH, my kids really don't fight that much. I had one day when they were both whiney and bored and just bickering. That was a day that I thought to myself, "If this happened all the time, I can understand why people say they can't wait to send their kids to school."

My oldest is starting Kindergarten, and after 2 very stressful years of preschool with a revolving door of teachers and my son being labeled "the bad boy," I have a lot of anxiety about the upcoming school year. I've been having palpitations, dizzy spells, shortness of breath & diarrhea--my goodness I have NEVER been like this before in my life! So, I AM a bit sad, as this summer I was able to enjoy my high energy boy in all his loving goodness, and didn't have to dread pickup time every day. One of the moms from our playground said to me last week, "I really love Matthew. He has a heart of gold!" Too few at his school got to experience that side of him last year, since he was just "the bad boy," which I think really means he was just more than their chaotic classroom with in-over-their-head teachers could handle.

On the other hand, I will benefit from being able to exercise at the YMCA daily, while my younger kids are being watched in the childcare area. I will also be able to get quite a bit of stuff done that was put off this summer.

I am not doing the happy dance.. I will miss my kiddos. I quit my job to stay home with my kids.. Not to stay home with an empty house.

yes the fight whine and fuss.. sometimes.. but I love them to pieces.. and will miss them terribly.

I am beyond ready!!! This past week has been hell. Constant fighting, my back is killing me, all the shopping we've had to do, etc. I'm just done! I've loved having them home this summer, but soooooo ready to get a break.

Yep...counting them down here, too.

It's been fun, but we could use a little structure!

I did the half way happy dance today... my 3 older kids started school today. But I had to work an over night and for the first time ever I had to miss seeing my kids off to school :(

It was sweet though, my oldest called me 3 time before he left for school just to "reassure you we are getting ready". I think it was more he wanted the reassurance. Its nice to know they still want their mom at just shy of 16 and heading into the 10th grade :)

On Monday my two younger kiddo's start Pre-K. Thankfully I will be able to send them off.

I know lots of people who will do the happy dance with you, but I can't say I'm one of them. Don't get me wrong, my kids do their fair share of driving me crazy during the summer, but I love having lazy days and not rushing around so much. Plus we get to do lots of swimming and fun day trips. I'll be one of the parents who is wiping tears away from her eyes on the first day of school. We start in 2 weeks.

I hate for summer to end because we homeschool . . . :P

You have no idea....

Haha Candice M.! I WILL very much miss my pre-schooler this year & I seriously can't even think about Kindergarten next year without crying. This little one is my last child, (my other two are adults now), and it hit me the other day that once she starts Kindergarten, we'll barely have any time together :( I too LOVE our days together, we go on day trips, have bubble baths & pedicure's in the middle of the day, picnic's at the park, etc. etc. It's just been a BLAST being home for 4 1/2 years with her. So... although I can relate to being happy to have some time to get things done & to myself, I AM sad that summer is coming to an end and my little one is growing up some more!

Can. Not. Wait!

I am counting down the days until the 22nd. My kids have been the same as yours for the past 2 weeks. Now I might be a different picture come Wednesday, because my "baby" goes to full time kindergarten. I'm too scared to think about it right now. It'll hit me that morning I'm sure. haha!

I'm soooooo ready for summer to end. HAHA August 27th, bring it on!

Personally I think my son is ready too. :) He's gone bonkers most of the summer.

Happy dance here too!! I love it when they go back to school and we get into our routine again. Not looking forward to homework though, but that's ok. Funny... when May rolls around I can't wait for summer to start and school to end. But then again I love the changes of seasons and look forward to each season when it rolls around... 'cept maybe winter.

I am torn. I love my kids and my summer moments. I am sad it went so fast. BUT, when they are fighting and cant sit still.... i start thinking it is time....lol!

Sounds like you have tons of fun with your three-year-old alone!

Do you have fun activities/projects for your older children to do at home to keep them busy instead of driving you "Nuts"?

In NYC, school starts at September 6. I'm happy also.

I'm glad, because my kids always mess my house for 9 hours. Now it can be messed up for an hour before I get home. the house will stay cleaner!!!

I love my sons' school and I love that they love school, but I hate to see summer end! I love having them home:)

I've got a week and 2 days before mine go back! I am doing the happy dance so much that I'm making Happy Feet look like a movie about meditation! lol Seriously, though.. I am SO looking forward to it. :D

of course i am counting down the days. and then i am really sad summer is ending. i just love summer. we are still very busy with pool, beach, playmates and another trip coming up. but in between all of the fun my kids are having, there is the whining. and of course they have not finished their schoolwork. shoot me

Ditto Lisa O....No, I don't want summer to end. I love being with my kids, but they are so busy that I don't get much time with them.

When my kids were younger and your kids' age, I always planned one day out, one day home, etc. So they would be tired and ready to rest and read and play quietly and watch a movie at home. Then the next day out and about to the pool, parks, zoo, museum, hike, whatever you have.

GL!

My happy dance is in three weeks. However, the happy dance will be in the mornings of half-day kindergarten; my 'reality check cha-cha' will be in the afternoons with a tired, adjusting kiddo. (Actually, it's a slow number....)

Part of me is. Part of me isn't.

Happy Dance Part - this summer was SO hot and therefore boring. We couldn't go on walks, play outside, go to Great America, walk to a friend's house - anything. So the kids have been so bored that they just need to see their friends and have that social interaction again. Plus I'm sick of them just watching TV or playing computer so much!

SO SAD part - My kids are 10 and 13 now. Each year of school marks another year they are older. This is the last year of our family being at the elementary school, and the last year before high school for the older one. I am mourning the little kids I used to have and wanting a time machine back to that time. So the start of the school year is hard this year. Plus having done nothing fun this year, and now it's actually finally nice enough to do so it sucks that they are in school and we can't go do those things now.