Another year rolls on

Monday marks the start of another school year, more than January 1, it's the official start of the year if you are a parent. For me January sort of floats by, doing enough work to keep things rolling on that front, but equally hanging out with the kids. I'm not a "let's get out the craft box and make a rocket out of this old box and some crepe paper" sort of mother. I'm a "let's go to [insert name of child friendly activity/venue here]" sort of mother. To be honest these holidays they have been taken out for lots of fun days by my mum, my sister and my dad. I've actually seen it as my job to ensure they have some "boring" days around the house so that they don't come to expect everyday to be an outing day during the holidays. But even boring days usually involve time down at the pool and/or the park and/or Wii and/or friends over for a play. So not quite the boring days I had as a kid when I would just hit the tennis ball against the back wall at home for hours on end or read on my bed for hours on end. Good times.


Today I have started thinking about the year ahead now that the official start of the year is only a few days ahead. After always saying I didn't want my kids to be over-scheduled I have ended up with over-scheduled kids and thus and therefore over-scheduled parents.


At this point our weeks are going to look like this:


Monday: Will has Learning Links school age program (for children with learning difficulties) from 4 to 6 pm... at Peakhurst which is somewhere between 30 and 60 minutes drive away (depending on traffic) from his school and my office. This will involve me picking him up from school at least 10 minutes early to ensure we get there on time and my dad picking up Marianna from school and her waiting at the office until Big Jay can collect her at 5-ish to take her home.


Tuesday: Marianna's piano lesson (if we can reschedule - it was Wednesday last year).


Wednesday: Marianna's ballet lesson.


Thursday: Marianna's jazz and tap lessons. Will has Scouts.


Friday: The Holy and Blessed Day of St Nothing. The day I don't work and the kids don't have any activities. Which means I run around all day getting all those chores done which don't get done the rest of the week and then we come home and collapse with a take away dinner and a movie.


Saturday: Will is starting soccer, at the ripe old age of almost 12, which means Big Jay (or occassionally yours truly) will be driving him all over the countryside for games.


Sunday: [no rest for the wicked] Miss M has also decided to do soccer so I will be driving her all over the countryside for games.


Somewhere amongst that they will both have after school soccer practice.


Let's not mention the eleven Sydney Swans home games between March and August, the assorted Sharks games Big Jay tries to get to plus assorted birthday parties, school functions, concerts* and various other events which pop up on a very regular basis. Oi vey!

*March seems to be concert month this year. We're going to see Billy Connolly and Tim Minchin, I'm taking the kids to see Weird Al (I take full responsibility for converting them), I'm going to see Neil Diamond with my friend C on the same night Big Jay is going to see Santana and I'm taking my mum and sister to see Missing The Bus To David Jones which by all accounts is a musical about old people in nursing homes... and doesn't that sound hilarious. Apart from all that Big Jay is going away for his annual golfing pilgrimage to Coffs Harbour in the middle of March and we have to squeeze in some type of familial celebratory function for my birthday.

Sorry for boring you, dear reader/s, with the trivialities of my life but this cyber document is also my journal and must include, apart from my deep and insightful musings on the greater life questions, the details of my life which I hope to look back upon one day, as I kick back at Shady Pines, and laugh and laugh....