1 Mother 2 Another

Well, it’s begun. That annual time
of year when I mercilessly torture my children for no immediate
reason, causing tears and irritability for the entire day.


Also known as the Backing Up of Getting Up.


Two weeks before school starts I begin waking the girls up earlier
and earlier: I start at 8 a.m. and move it back by 15 minutes every
two days, until by next weekend we’re at the time we need for
a school morning.


Yes, I know, many people think I’m crazy and will suck every
last Sleeping In drop out of the summer that they possibly can. And
to those people I say, If you can do it, God bless you.


We, however, cannot.

For a family of kids who adore staying up
late, sleeping relatively late – 8:30 or 9:30 – and, in
Maddie’s case, need about 11 hours of sleep a night, suddenly
getting up three hours earlier just won’t cut it. Add to that
an introverted child – Maddie – who spends the summer
dreamily playing by herself or one-on-one with a friend during
lazy, timeless days, who then must suddenly interact with TWENTY.
CHILDREN. For SEVEN. HOURS. And, well, that’s just a recipe
for disaster.


We’ve got a few days these next couple weeks with a morning
playdate then an afternoon one, just to get Maddie’s social
tolerance muscles built back up again. We did it yesterday, and
believe me, there were tears by bedtime. And interestingly enough,
it wasn’t just Maddie: apparently Cora’s grown used to
our lazy, quiet days, and yesterday was enough to send her into a
tailspin as well.


So it’s increasingly earlier mornings and increasingly busier
days for us for the next two weeks.


Sigh.


Looks like summer’s ending.