Changings Seasons and Routines

Happy Fall Equinox! Even though I come to dread the cold, wet, dark days of Winter, Fall has become my favourite time of year. The smell of crisp change in the air, the brilliant leaf colours and last flare from flower beds, the sounds of leaves being crunched with glee all life my spirits. The grapes are being harvested in the vineyards, the Farmers' Markets are flourishing, and the kids are starting to buzz with excitement of Halloween, Christmas, and both their birthdays on the horizon.

  

This morning also saw another change in our morning routine for school. This is the first year I've personally had to deliver both kids to their respective schools in the morning, and I am struggling to find success. First I started with dropping off Big Sister -- Third Grade, after all, is important stuff!  But that left me struggling to get James to school on time. It also left me going in circles, because most of my errands are down near Big Sister's school, not James', which is near our house.

So I talked with James' Services Coordinator at school (because I can't just leave James alone on the playground - he'd wander off), and arranged to have his aide waiting for him 10 minutes before school on the playground so I could flip the dropoffs. On the days that we made a timely connection with James' aide and made all the stoplights, Big Sister could just be on time for school, if she scooted across the campus quickly enough. But guess what? That didn't always happen.

Then this week, they started tree-trimming on the road between their schools and closing lanes of traffic, making cars wait. Guess what? I got called by Big Sister's teacher. This isn't working he said, in the nicest way possible. Could we try switching the dropoffs again?

Sigh. Yes. Luckily, Big Sis loves her new teacher, class, and finally, her "new" school. I told her that she needed to get ready 20 minutes earlier to do this and get James to school on time. And kudos to her, she did it. James is actually easy to get ready for school. He changes clothes in 2 minutes flat and brushing his hair takes about as long (he hates it, but it's short). He actually will scoot out the door earlier in the morning if it means he gets a longer ride in the car and can wave to Big Sis at her school.

Big Sis wins because she's early, and can take her time and talk with the kids at her school. James wins because he'd rather be dropped off last. His aide and teacher win because there's more time for them to prepare in the morning and touch base with me about how James is doing. I get to do more driving, is the only downer. But that's okay, because I can change too.