Summer Groove

It's weird how quickly things change. Before Henry started preschool last August it was hard to imagine him being away for three hours four days per week. What in the world would I do without him?! Crazy how quickly Warren and I settled into an afternoon routine (and of course eventually added Greta to the mix). About mid-April it hit me that in a few short weeks Henry would be on summer break and it would be like every day was a Wednesday. (Wednesdays are no preschool days in Pella.) At this stage, Henry is usually the easy one. And Greta is easy, too. **i'm looking at you, Warren** But I was just dreading having to endure days and days on end of the boys' fighting. Spring was a season of so much fighting. And tattling. Oh the tattling. Now, as a former early childhood teacher I have certainly endured lots and lots of tattling. But only for short spurts of time and then their mothers come and pick them up. Now...I am that mother. It was clear I was going to need a summertime game plan. I signed onto Pinterest hoping for some inspiration. But, who am I kidding? My mothering capabilities have become much less Pinterest-worthy than they were two kids ago so at first things were looking grim. And then I spotted it. A weekly routine that served more as a general guide than I minute-by-minute schedule. I felt like it was attainable. And helpful! I think I took a screen shot of it and sent it off to a few of my friends.

So Monday morning rolled around and after breakfast I brought the boys downstairs to the computer for the big reveal. (And hence learned I had over-hyped it way too much because both of them were expecting gifts. Let down.) I explained the gist of it to them and Henry stayed interested. Then I said, "So, what do you think?" To which Henry replied, "Wow, I gotta say. I was worried about kindergarten but this seems GREAT!" I think I kinda mumbled something about how this isn't kindergarten but then just let it go as to not lose my momentum. So we're now over a month in on this thing and I've gotta say it has been great! We haven't followed it every day because of course summer brings some spontaneity and such but overall we've gotten into it and the boys now even ask what day it is. I will say I've been slacking a bit on Craft Day and we've technically only done one craft (Garden Sun Catcher for the win!) but on the docket for this week is Cotton Candy play doh and that's sure to be a hit.
But beyond the summer schedule, the absolute best part of the summer so far has been the complete 180 the boys have done in the Getting Along department. I don't know what changed but they play together amazingly well and entertain each other for days on end. Dameon and I sometimes actually get scolded when we try to join in. Most of their time is spent developing many different story lines with their My Little Ponies but also these weird things called Shopkins have entered the picture. Does anyone even understand those things? But, yes, I pay the $2.88 for such treasures because they provide endless hours of peace, love, and weird names.

        Baking Day--chocolate muffins