Fall Routine

When I switched jobs I instantly gained 10 hours/week back from commuting time. However this meant that I lost a lot of my twitter/blogging time. I think I'm finally back and all settled in with my new routine. I have been trying to prep meals for the week on Sundays and choose easy meals for during the week. I have also been planning and setting out my outfits for the week in the closet so I don't have to think about what I am going to wear in the morning.

Here is what our schedule has been looking like on a typical day when B goes to school.

6:30am - Wake-up
6:30am-7:30am - Breakfast and getting ready
7:30am - My sister arrives at the house to watch the boys or just N depending on the day
7:35am - Walk B to the bus stop
7:40-8:10am - Finish getting ready for work and making coffee (there is no Starbucks on my way to work so $ has been saved!)
8:10am - leave the house for work
8:30am - 4:30pm Work
4:50pm - Arrive home
5:30pm-6:00pm - Dinner
6:00pm-6:30pm - Cleaning up/Preparations for next day
6:30pm-6:50pm - Baths
7pm - N goes to bed
7-7:30pm - B gets ready for bed, bedtime story

The rest of the night I have off so I have typically been catching up on emails, working on my major research for my Masters, and watching all the tv shows I PVR'd over the summer. DH goes to bed around 8:30pm since he wakes up super early for work so we generally don't get to spend too much time together in the evenings during the week but at least we have an extra hour after work now together that we didn't have before.

School Boy

The first baby is officially in school. Awhile back we were mulling over the decision to keep him in Montessori or to switch him to public school for kindergarten. We decided to send him to our local public school and we couldn't be happier with our choice so far.

His first day went really smoothly. It was a 3 hour trial morning. He goes part-time but full days - either 2 or 3 days/week. He is in a split JK/SK class so not too much different than his Montessori Casa class with 3 different age groups. His teacher sent home this sweet little note in his backpack the first day:

I was at work that morning so I didn't get the pleasure of picking him up from his first morning but the teacher told my sister when she went to get him that he had a wonderful morning and that he followed routines well. My sister mentioned that he had gone to Montessori from about 18 months. The teacher said it showed and mentioned that she may have to give him some SK work to do. I'm so happy she is willing to do this for him.

After that trial day, he took the school bus for the very first time. He has a bus buddy who is a few grades older who lives in our neighbourhood that walks him to and from the bus to his class. While many parents have a hard time seeing their child go off to school for the first time, not to mention riding a school bus alone, I wasn't even a smidge sad. I was so excited for him. We waved excitedly at each other as the bus pulled away and I knew he was ready for this next step. He has been unhappy lately at home all day. Now, every day when he gets off the bus he gushes about how awesome his day was at school.

One thing I did find surprising was his homework. Each week he is to read 3 books and the parents are to fill out a reading log. This isn't too much trouble since we've been reading each night since he was 2 but remembering to fill out the log has been a learning curve. He also has one sheet of writing to do each week - tracing letters and colouring pictures that start with that letter. Over the summer I started to try to work on writing his name with him and he got frustrated often so I didn't push it. He is much more confident when we work on the writing sheets together. He is really happy to get stickers from the teacher. It's the little things I guess!

September Check-in

Seems fitting to do a check in with my 2012 goals I set out in January. Here is how I have been doing!

• I want to continue to eliminate clutter from our lives and improve our financial security. I got a job! I started on Monday. It is in my field, 15 minutes away, and pays decently. So far I'm totally loving the work which is challenging and the people are so nice. Though the job is contract, it looks promising that it could turn into a permanent position. I think we are well on our way in terms of meeting this goal. In light of this new job, I also reworked our budget which I am hoping to share (eep!) with the world soon!  

• Continue to find meaningful ways to give back to my community. I feel like I have gone above and beyond my own expectations in this area. With all I have on the go between now and next Spring, I think I will ease back a little on my community commitments. 

• Immerse myself in my thesis research and give it my all. YES! I am furiously trying to clean up my research proposal and secure an advisor. All of this will be done in the next couple of weeks and then I'm into actually doing the research. I wanted to do meaningful work and I think I have pretty much nailed that since my research is going to be heavily based on the community in which I live. I guess this will further contribute to my previous goal.  

• Cherish the little things - The daily bests journal is back on. I really like it. B went to kindergarten today and absolutely loved it. I'm so happy I got to drop him off and I called him this afternoon to see how it went. I've also been spending extra time with the boys. Usually I am out a couple of nights/week but since DH is away on a 10-day trip with his dad, I cleared my schedule and have spent lots more time with the boys in the evenings and on the weekend. I even took B to the Canadian National Exhibition last weekend, while my sister watched N, and he had an absolute blast. 

• Act on the fact that "life is short". I have been spending a lot time with friends lately and I'm really happier for it. I've also been making an effort to put aside other work and technology and just focus on family time when I'm with the family. I really notice a difference in the quality of time spent together. And finally, I have been making time for the things that make me happy. Scheduling them in  so they are obligations rather than nice-to-do things.