Wednesday, September 14, 2011

The Back-to-School-and-Soccer Blur

It happens every year--the back-to-school blur of scheduling.  It's like putting a puzzle together.  How can I fit all the pieces together?  And my other driver just left for college!  What if Papa Rooster is traveling with his job?

At least B16 is taking his road test in about 4 weeks.  That introduces a whole new set of variables--and costs!  (Car insurance on a teenage male?  Astronomical!!)  But at least we'll have more options for fitting it all together.

I guess scheduling is on my mind because I just got a new planner.  Here's my life.

Mondays:

B16 and 12 have one virtual classroom session each.  I will plan to go to yoga this morning.

We need to have everything ready to leave for B12's and C9's piano lessons, then B12's soccer practice--the minute B6 and C9 get off the bus.  I may end up having to pick them up at school on Mondays, and B12 will probably be late to soccer every week.  But it was the one, best chance at squeezing in piano lessons!  Don't know what C9 and I will do after we drop off B12; we'll either return home for an hour, or do errands until we pick him up.

Tuesdays:

Guitar lesson first thing.  Three virtual lectures for the boys.  Late afternoon, I teach my Drama 1 class; then, for the next three weeks, Papa Rooster, B16 and I are going to choir practice!  We were invited to join a choral arts group for one performance of this incredible gospel mass.

Meanwhile C9 has soccer practice.  If the other soccer family can't bring her home, she'll have to miss it.  At least her team has two scheduled practices a week.

Meanwhile, B16 also has soccer practice.  If Papa Rooster is out of town, I don't know how we'll get him either to practice or to choir rehearsal.  But PR probably will avoid scheduling travel on Tuesdays.  He won't want to miss a rehearsal--that first tenor part is challenging!--and it's a lot of music left to learn in just three more weeks.

Wednesdays:

Three virtual sessions for the Bantams, and then B16's voice lesson mid-afternoon.  Then two soccer practices, staggered, fortunately, so I can drop off one, then the other, pick up one, then the other.  I'll save my errands to kill time in between.

(Still thinking about adding AWANA to this night--it's such a great program--maybe after soccer is over, if we can still join late.)

Thursdays:

Three more online sessions, two more soccer practices.  One is for B16, who is helping a friend coach her son's team, so she provides his ride both ways.  Phew!  I will drive the carpool both ways to C9's practice, in return for them driving her on Tuesdays.  Maybe Papa R and I can do Date Night during her practice?  We'll have an hour and a half, if he's in town.

Fridays:

Nothing!!  How did that happen?  This will be the one weeknight, until soccer is over, that we could actually all sit down together for dinner AT dinnertime.  Better make meal prep a priority on Fridays.

And it looks like time to pull out the crockpot and soup recipes for the other nights; all those soccer practices are between 5 and 7:30.  With C9 and B6's bus arriving after 4 and their bedtime at 8:00, it's going to be tough to get in homework and piano practice, let alone dinner.  I am grateful for B20, who is always home, so at least he can supervise if I'm not there.  That's one silver lining of him not having a job yet.

Weekends:

Looks like we have four soccer games every Saturday for the next six weeks, with a few scattered games on Sunday afternoons as well.  The Saturday games begin as early as 9 and will usually end at 4:30.  So it's the whole day.

I confess I don't plan on watching every game!  Papa R and I will have to divide and conquer anyway, because sometimes we'll have kids playing at the same time.

And once the weather turns colder, I am a wimp.  I far prefer having theater rehearsals on Saturday mornings, when I can drop the kids off and go enjoy my quiet morning at Panera--indoors, with a hot cup of coffee, and no guilt about missing anything.  When it's performance time, I can be right in there with the kids, being creative with my makeup responsibilities and watching my kids perform...in the comfort of a cozy, cushy theater!  Even if I commit to helping out during rehearsals, I'm with friends.  It's hard to make friends with other parents on the soccer team when we are all trying not to miss our child's one goal or great assist.  Too often I've missed those moments because I've been chatting...and then I ask myself why I've been shivering out here in a lawn chair for the last hour!  So now I'm a quiet soccer mom, except to yell encouragement at the kids whose names I know, but the time does go slower then.

Papa R took lots of great soccer photos last weekend.  I should post some soon.

I should also take a shower.  While I have the chance!

No comments: