Goodbye, Summer. I'm Adjusting

I loved how Sue made her "See Ya Summer" post, so in hopes that she doesn't mind, I'm copying her idea.

For me, summer unofficially begins when kids get out of school, and unofficially ends when kids go back to school.

As you know, this year our oldest is in school full-time now, so he is a part of that group. Still feels weird.

Summer began with Aidan's preschool graduation. It was wonderful & we felt so very happy with our preschool choice. Because of how much he loved preschool, that is when we decided full day kindergarten would be best for him. (even though I've been convincing myself all summer;)

Then it all whirled together, feeling like it was going by so slowly, but looking back, it flew by.

We had:

Safety Town

Aidan lost his first tooth

Aidan played soccer

I cut my hair

Brennan transitioned from crib to big boy bed

We traveled to Milwaukee to visit my great friend Alison, 2 weeks later we went to NC to visit John & Erin & kids, then 2 weeks later we went to Gatlinburg.

It was a busy summer of traveling, but we really enjoyed each trip.

Day-to-day life felt hectic. Pat was in class all summer, and each class was like a mini-session, progressive and requiring nonstop work. He was gone a lot for class, studying, or working on a project or paper.

We missed him.

His schedule was very humbling for me. I often felt very weak for not handling it better. I was more or less playing single parent, and I grew frustrated and impatient with it. I think of my weakness, then think of military families or parents who truly are single parents, and I feel quite weak admitting that.

Weak, but true, however. No matter how much you love your kids, it's not an easy task to be the only adult with them constantly. I know many of you know that. I felt guilty for feeling frustrated, but I think it's really just normal.

Summer was nice, but I do feel ready for fall. Aside from it being my favorite season, I welcome the return of a normal, predictable routine. It's a routine were just now learning, but so far so good.

Aidan is on his 3rd day of kindergarten, and he really seems to enjoy it. He did ve

ry well yesterday & I hope today is another good day.

Pat started back to class this week, too, and one of his classes he seems very comfortable with.

Brennan & I have noticed the house feels different without Aidan around, but we're learning to take advantage of our one-on-one time. It's crazy how much bigger Brennan seems to me without his big brother around. With just Brennan around, he helps out more, and I am seeing how much smarter he is, too.

We're adjusting to fall. Summer was nice, but I'm glad it's unofficially over.

How about you?