Routines - I have come to love them

This was our first week of school - well, my son's first week of Kindergarten and all went well. His first official day (without me) was Thursday. He told me he did a lot of sitting. But luckily the bus ride home was exciting and that trumped the boring day at school. Today he was equally excited about the bus ride and he was a bit happier about his day at school - apparently they searched for a bear that left things behind. I asked him if it was scat that they were following and he scrunched his face and informed me "no mama, it wasn't a real bear".

But once he returned from school, I had a moment of contentment in which I realized that this year with a regular schedule is going to do good things for me. Lyssie and I still haven't figured out our routine while Robbie is gone... but at 11:35 the timer goes off (I have to set it to remind me to pick my son up from the bus - I tend to get distracted), we get our shoes on and we walk to the top of the hill to wait for the bus. Robbie comes off the bus happy as can be and we all walk back home for lunch. We all have lunch at the time most people have lunch (unusual in this household) and then the kids are free to play until dinner time.

The routine is great for me - I can do errands in the morning. The routine is great for my son - he knows what to expect. The routine is great for my daughter - she gets some one-on-one time with me and still has plenty of time to play with her brother.

I'm predicting a great year (provided Robbie gets to do more than "just sit" at school).