Hey yall, how ya doin? 
I just put both of the kids on the bus about 8 minutes ago. Finally, finally, I have some time to myself. But umā¦what do I do? :shock: What is this strange concept other Mumās call time alone. I realized at 6 am, this is the first day in 3 years that Iāll be alone for 8 consecutive hours.
WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO ALL DAY? :roflhard:
Iāve sure missed yall, and itās going to be great to have the time to āhang outā with you guys!
Denise
Wowāschool starts today?!? Iām a teacher, and my kids donāt start until August 30. My brain is still in āsummer modeā, so Iād better start getting readyā¦that date is approaching fast.
Enjoy your time to yourself!! Hope you have a great day!
I wondered where you were! Itās been a while since Iāve seen any posts from you! Glad youāre back. Wow, school starts early there! My kids donāt go back until September 5! Enjoy your free time!
This is going to sound so structured, but put yourself on a schedule after they leave so you get everything done you need to get done and then can just have some quiet āMeā time before they get back. Having recently decided to give up my job and stay home, I found the day just kind of disappeared and I never did the things I wanted to do. In fact, I found I did less around the house everyday than when I was working. Now, I zip through the boring stuff first thing and then can read, knit or visit without the pull of chores.
Oh god.
School? Except not school, not anymore.
Oh JEEZ!
Iām starting college in September! :shock:
You think youāre weirded out by school starting! 
WOW! I canāt wait. I have a few more years until my guys are both in school full time, but this year Thing 1 goes to school from 9-1 5 days a week and Thing 2 goes to school two days from 9-1. I canāt wait for August 28th!! Iām taking a few classes to keep my teaching creditials. It will be nice to think Iām working toward a career again.
Right now you feel like you have all the time in the world, but make sure you schedule some sacred time for yourself. If not, it will be filled with running errands, cleaning, and volunteer work at the school.
Here are a few ideas:
Anyone care to add on?? This could be fun!
Hey Denise!
I never had that luxury. I went back to work, at the kidsā school, when my youngest entered 1st grade. I honestly donāt know what Iād do with myself if I was home alone all day, every day. At first it would be enjoyable, I think, but then Iād get bored. I had to take this summer off, and there are days when Iām home alone that I get a bit stir crazy.
Maybe a part-time job?
Yep, a loose schedule is the way to go. My preference was to have a cup of coffee and the newspaper for up to an hour after they left (shorter if I felt like it.) Mornings were for housework, yardwork, laundry, whatever. Always stop and eat lunch, even if itās just a yogurt or some veggies. Youāll be running on empty when the kids get home if you donāt. Afternoons were for errands as needed (usually one or two days a week, it is SO great to do the grocery shopping without the kids.) I didnāt knit then, but it would be great to spend a couple of afternoons a week knitting. Itās a hubub once they get home right on through dinner/dishes/baths/bedtime, then some more time to knit while DH watches t.v.
My schedule is similar even now that the kids are grown and gone, although I invert my days during the summer: mornings belong to the yard and the garden, afternoons are for the other stuff. I do love winter mornings, though, getting up to a cup of coffee, sitting by the fire, and knitting for a couple of hours. Looking forward to fallā¦
HEY GIRL You have been missed!!! I pmād you a couple of times, too! Good to hear that you are back in the knitting saddle
Lots and lots of great ideas!
I think youāre all right about the schedules. Today really whizzed by too fast. I took a long nap and otherwise celebrated by sitting on my duff. Of course now I have to be at the bus stop in 10 minutes, and didnāt get much done.
Craaazy as it sounds, I think Iāll actually enjoy getting some housework done without being bothered, nothing ticks me off more than as soon as I get the water going for the dishes the kids ask me somethingā¦from the living room. Makes me totally batty!
Ronda, Becca: Iāve missed yall too!
I have no idea why school starts so early hereā¦ last year they started Aug 2 and got out May 19. Maybe because itās so hot here? It does make recess difficult for the kids, though, they can really only spend about 20 minutes outside before they all have to go back in.
Ooops, pumpkin timeā¦ got to go get the kiddies from the bus stop.
Woohoo ! My sonās first day of school is tomorrow !!! Heāll be on the bus at 6:30 and wonāt come back until 3:30!!! Since I have been home for going on 2 years I have found that the first couple of weeks leaves me cleaning his room. Then the next month I am endlessly cleaning the house (things that havenāt been cleaned since last August) after that I find myself growing bored lol. So, now it is time to catch up on Days of Our Lives just to get confused all over again. By that time is is nearing the end of September and I should really start on my Christmas knitting. Rushing to get everything done by Thanksgiving I barely make it. Then December hits me and I tell myself I am done with knitting for the year. With that month I find myself reading books. Wowā¦ I can read. Vowing to read more in the coming year I find myself knitting again in January because this birthday and that birthday are right around the corner. And that is what you do when your child goes to school 
.
LOL that sounds like lots of fuuun. :teehee:
yay 
Denise is back 
!
my 8th grader starts on Aug 24 and goes til like June 15. they have ukuzillions of holidays tho.
I think I finally figured out the dealie-o why the kids go early and get out early here. From what Iāve heard, they only have to attend 108 days of school per year here. Where I grew up, it had to be 180.
Their holidays got cut back this year (thank god! they had 19 days for Christmas vacay last year) a little bit, woo.
hehe thanks jodstr!
I was watching a documentary on a family with septuplets. She said the first day of first grade about undid her. She missed the kids and the noise so much that she sat down in front of the TV and turned on Barney.
Weāve been having trouble lately with our oldest (3 yrs old) getting out of bed at bedtime. I accused my husband of actually enjoying hearing the pitter patter of little feet when weāre finally just sitting down to read, knit, talk, watch TV, whatever. He said āWell, in 20 years weāll wish we could have this problem again, just one night.ā Puts it into perspective. I really try to enjoy the place I am now. But when Iām looking at my kiddos going āYou drive me batty,ā it helps to remind myself that 1) I will have time for myself in a few years and 2) it may be a little more time than I want. Thanks for helping us remember!
Kirstin
[size=6][color=blue]Thatās what grandkids are for !!! [/color][/size]
Kristin, youāre very welcome! Donāt think for a second I didnāt boo-hoo like a big baby when the kids got on that bus! Tomorrow is day 4 of school-adventures, and then a weekend already! Iām secretly looking forward to having them home all weekend, but letās see if I donāt change my mind by 9 am Saturday, :roflhard: :rofling: :roflhard:!!!