Fall Rhythms

 A really sweet and lovely dance mom whom I have apparently known for years (I introduced myself to her in the hallway outside Minnie's jazz class, and she was like oh we know each other from the little gym; you shared your pearls of wisdom and then I felt like a total tool on at least 2 levels) was talking about the fall busy season (she has 4 kids elementary school and younger) and said something so wise: we need to live our schedule for a couple of weeks before we figure out what's working and what's not.

Well, I am impatient, so I am writing this after living our full schedule (school plus gymnastics for Min  plus dance for Dorothy and Min plus diving plus crew for the fall play and speech season prep work and fall work schedule for Jack) for just one week, and right away, I can see that I need to spend less time putting food in boxes. OMG.

this is the kind of after school snack I bring Cooper 4 days a week and Dorothy twice. it is a meal.

A few things that are working well:

Making Friday night fun! So far we have done a movie night (K Pop Demon Hunters, natch) and a stuff-your-stanley ice cream event

Therapeutic coloring: In an effort to make the house a cozy place that the kids feel like they can totally relax and unwind on because they are so busy these days outside the house, I bought a bunch of color-on table cloths and leave them out with baskets of crayons and markers, and we pretty much all love it. Everyone stops by the table at some point to do some coloring. Minnie also likes access to workbooks and markers after school, which buys me some much-needed catch up time before the pick up/drop off onslaught

Making weekends as fun as possible. YES we do tons of chores and weekly prep, but we also have so much downtime, thanks to dance and diving being low weekend commitment sports. We have been trying to go out more as a family and also to make errands fun by pairing them with a treat of some kind. Ben and I have started going to Costco solo after we run on Saturday or Sunday because if we are going to spend that much cash at a place, we might as well enjoy ourselves.

Don't remember where we were going, but we looked happy about it

quick trip after school to grab bread for grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner turned into a junk food binge and Dorothy having a friend over to make frozen gummy bears (frozen in sprite)

Making sure the activities are darling

Appreciating the sunrise, as long as I have to be up walking the dog and starting my day

Leaning into carpooling and also the sun setting after dinner

our leg of the car pool is always better with baked goods. my car is a mess.

Working from couch with my stuffed animal come to life

How is the new season treating you so far?

Fall Rhythm Wish List

 We have a very graduated start to fall. Dorothy and Minnie had their first days on Tuesday, and Coop and Jack joined them on Wednesday (our school district has a day where the youngest kids at each level get a whole day in the building by themselves. Dorothy’s 6th grade class spent the day learning each other’s names, decorating their lockers and binders, meeting the school chickens, and sampling produce from the school garden. Minnie goes to private preschool).

 Next week, Cooper starts dive, and the following week, we add in dance. Then, we have a few weeks to figure our stuff out before Minnie’s tap/ballet class begins. Jack is trying out for the fall play this week, so that could add another layer. My own class is hybrid, so I have my own rolling start before my first in-person lecture, but my course admin duties started a few weeks ago.

As we slow roll into the swing of things, I can see a couple of hiccups on the horizon that I want to work on smoothing out.

1. Dinner. 

Dorothy and Cooper get out of school at 4:25pm (!!!!!) and then go straight to their stuff. 

On Mondays, they get out a tad earlier, and Ben is having them ride the bus home (I would pick them up if it were me, but I will be on campus), so he will figure out their food situation, and I will pack for myself to drive the dive carpool home. 

Tuesdays, we will go straight to diving, so Coop will eat in the car, have a snack in his bag, and then eat at home. Dorothy and Minnie and I will eat somewhere out after we drop him and then hang out at the dance studio because Dorothy only has tap class.

 Wednesday is dicey. I think Jack takes Dorothy while I take Cooper and then either Jack stays at dance and brings her home after one single jazz class and the 4 of us eat while we wait for Coop to come home OR Jack does some other thing after he drops her off, and Minnie and I do a loop and pick Dorothy up from dance after we drop Cooper off. Again, he will eat a car snack, pack a snack, and eat his real meal at home.

 Thursday is bananas. Dorothy has dance five minutes after dismissal (SHE WILL BE LATE, OBVI), and I will take her to dance and then Coop to dive after (HE WILL ALSO BE LATE, OBVI) (Another snack in the car, snack on the deck, real food late night for him). Minnie and I will have dinner with Jack (his schedule depending) and then go get Dorothy. (Maybe Thursdays Jack can cook?) Ben drives the dive carpool home. Maybe Minnie can chill with Jack during the dance collection leg?? Maybe Thursday is late night date night for Ben and me and everyone else (besides Minnie) puts themselves to bed? 

Friday is a ballet night over the dinner hour, so “late” pizza Fridays at like 6:20? Fam dinner out night? 

2. Mornings

I need to hit my times in the morning to meet all my goals:

• Wipe down all 3 bathrooms
• Make sure all bedrooms are tidy, beds made, etc (I don’t have to do this all over the house— it’s a managerial role, mostly)
• At least 45 minutes of cardio
• At least 15 minutes of yoga
• Spot check breakfast clean up
• Leave the house dressed and made up, with a water bottle
• Laundry prepped for folding and putting away (this means Nighttime Sarah needs to run a load or two) (and prepped means mostly all washed and dried and thrown on Ben’s bed with a load in the dryer and maaaaybe some sheets in the washer) (Much easier without Ben midweek and with Harry doing his own (or not!) a couple hundred miles away).

By “hit my times” I mean that I outlined a perfect routine and time stamped it, so if I see myself taking too long at certain points, I can try to course correct before it is 8:15, and I am still in my jammies and preschool is waiting. I also had to build in time to lay in bed with coffee and play Spelling Bee.

Jack leaves before 8 to pick up a friend on the way to school. Cooper and Dorothy catch the bus at the same time Minnie and I need to leave for preschool (and the bus has a tracker app, so this should work out OK), and then I am freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Until the pick ups begin.

I need to try a bunch of different commute routes (ALL SHITTY) and then figure out the one that is the best of my bad choices. Today's made me stabby.

3. Library

I have been forgetting to get my holds before they expire. And these are holds I got on the list for months before release so I could get them right away and now I am like number 300 again.I just cannot find a way to make library time work because Minnie gets sick when she hits up the kiddie room. Maybe she and I can do a look-but-don’t-touch book grab one afternoon a week? Saturdays solo? This is occupying too much brain space, so I gotta figure it out, but maybe not soon because it feels like I will never have time read again anyway.

4. Nutrition

Not really related to dinners, I am not happy with my eating habits lately but also am not changing them. THIS IS SO FRUSTRATING. I have no ideas about how to fix, but I am flagging it as a problem.

5. TV.

I have completely stopped watching TV in the middle of our Hacks season 3 binge, our fam Dance Moms marathon seshes, and Big Brother. What the heck! I really want to get back in the habit of family viewing, but there just isn’t any time (that I want to waste in front of the TV). I think we need to find more leisure generally, but this will happen, I think, with NO HOCKEY and a really really low-key tournament baseball team that is on hiatus until January.

Here are a few things I am NOT making time for this fall:

NO LIST

Coffee out (except the one day a week I drive C and D to school)

Packing lunches (Minnie is not doing lunch at school this year, and the big 3 can fend for themselves or buy lunch)

Social media in the morning/getting sucked into the scroll

And, finally, here are a few things I am looking at adding to my life:

THINKING ABOUT

Resistance band at home arms

Weights

Campus gym

Barre class

Back to School Seems so far Away!

 I am craving fall things like new sneakers and pumpkin muffins and apple picking and that moment when you go into Target and all the clothes make YOUR bright, lightweight clothes look wrong because it is time for SWEATERS and more muted colors.

But.

Still summer here for the entire rest of the month and then a couple of days.

I did succumb to an Insta ad and buy Minnie a sweater because I knew it would make her look like a Care Bear, and I am not disappointed.

I also found a never-worn pair of Birks on our garage shoe shelves for Dorothy (they must have been Coop’s from when he loved Birks and then suddenly did not) and bought Jack a new backpack, a Costco pack of pens, and also a 3-pack of notebooks. Harry has the big stuff for his dorm but probably needs a white board/bulletin board and a futon, plus shower stuff, laundry detergent sheets, some kind of laundry receptacle, maybe a shoe bag for his closet door? We get to drop his stuff off in his room a week before move-in, so we can take stock then.

Still, we have SO MANY things to get in order before school really starts. New shoes for everyone's larger feet. Dorothy is absolutely not going to take a bento box to school in middle school and wants a new Hydroflask luncbhox. She also needs a new backpack because Pottery Barn Kids is also not cutting it for her new maturity **eye roll**. And Harry doesn't want to carry a backpack emblazoned with his high school tennis team logo, which tracks.

And it's not all buying stuff. I gotta go through the school district enrollment site and register everyone. Jack needs to go get an ID and a parking pass. Coop and Dorothy are going to ride the bus to school (first timers!) and have to figure out where they get it and where to get their bus passes. I think they have a day to go visit their school and check out their lockers, etc. SO MANY THINGS. (Also school supplies! How did that slip my mind?!)

We know basically when diving practice will be (maybe som days of the week swapping in for others?), but we have no clue about dance. Or what else people will do. Jack might do a dive clinic with an old coach one day a week. Hockey for Coop? Looking doubtful. Baseball? Perhaps, but on what level? He had two different tryouts this week, and the teams are VERY DIFFERENT in terms of financial commitment and time commitment.  Dance for Minnie? Yes, but the schedule has not come out yet and maybe gymnastics but there are not any classes at any of the five gyms I have checked DURING THE FREAKING DAY. I understand that lots of kids Minnie's age are in daycare, but NOT ALL OF THEM, and I would really like her to do activities DURING THE DAY because preschool plans do not make the cut for the busy after school hours. 

Speaking of school hours! Dorothy and Cooper go NINE TO FOUR TWENTY FIVE. What.

 SO MANY THINGS UP IN THE AIR, and all I want is a cozy routine.

When Minnie is sick in a few days, remind me, won't you, that we went to the Children's museum

Summer Foods: What's Working and What's Not + A WI ICE CREAM TOUR

Oh, food. So delicious. So vital. SUCH A GIANT PAIN IN THE NECK. Today, I am thinking about what my family is eating: what’s working, what’s not, and what’s AWESOME. 

Not Working:

*Eating stuff at the pool. YOU GUYS. Constant garbage food to the tune of $50/trip IS NOT WORKING FOR ME. But also! It is all on me to make sure we have food around 5:30 WHEN WE HAPPEN TO BE AT THE POOL. So far, convenience and ennui has won out, but! I just downloaded my banking app, and I think checking my balances more frequently will motivate me to STOP SPENDING ALL MY FUN MONEY ON GARBAGE FOOD.

*Shopping on rote so the cabinets are full of 3 open boxes of the same food. Do your kids do this too? Just open a new box even though there is a PERFECTLY FINE half-eaten box ALREADY ON THE SAME SHELF? I think I need to wait until things run out to buy more. Novel idea, huh? It’s easy when you only order groceries for pick up to just shop your standard weekly cart, but it’s also pretty wasteful.

Working:

*Abandoning formal menu plans to have easy meals in-stock for at-will consumption. Loving lately: make-your-own mini naaan pizzas; omelets and pancakes and fruit; spaghetti with sautéed shrimp and peppers; grilled brie and apple sandwiches; burgers and bagged salad (we are really branching out burger-wise. Ben and I love Impossible frozen burgers from Costco as well as the Kirkland salmon burgers— neither of us is eating meat right now, and we’re loving it. Still doing cheese, eggs, milk, and fish, though), tacos of course (kids still like beef, but I really like Kirkland frozen cod fillets with Trader Joe’s chili lime seasoning); veggie and hummus wraps with fruit and veggies and dip.

*Online grocery shopping: worth overstocking accidentally time-wise.

*ONLY EATING WHEN I AM HUNGRY AND STOPPING WHEN I AM FULL. Wild, huh?

REALLY, REALLY WORKING

A totally ludicrous WI ice cream tour we went on for the 4th of July. We hit 4 WI-only ice cream parlors (two of the served the same kind of WI-made ice cream, but this could not be helped because 2 original originals we planned to hit were closed for the 4th) and sampled house specialities at each place. SO FUN— and we made a note to go back to one when we weren’t so full (I could only eat 3 dill pickle cheese curds and a few bites of Dorothy’s s'mores sundae in Beaver Dam, and this was tragic).

Stop 1:

Notes: YES pineapple on banana splits! WHERE do you find frozen strawberries in syrup these days? YES to pop rocks on sundaes, and WHY don’t all ice cream parlors make their own fudge?

Stop 2:

Notes: YES to the homemade candy— bonus that Minnie found a piece shaped like an airplane. Delicious coffee and popcorn. We did not LOVE the superhero ice cream and prefer superhuman from Chocolate Shoppe in Madison.

Stop 3: 

Notes: Must return! When I am hungry! SO DELICIOUS. The s’mores sundae was peeeeerfect.

Stop 4: AN OLD FAVE

Notes: The “sampler” is just 4 huge scoops in the same cup— beware what you blend together. Also, the triple cheese grilled cheese is the best food ever.

Teaching outfit 10/27:

(A TJ Maxx dress I bought before JACK was born that is black and white giraffe print)

Teaching outfit 11/27:

(Casual because I was proctoring an exam and that's it)