Long story short: Charlie will not be attending school this fall. We had planned on him going again, but our school has a policy that 3 year olds must be potty trained. And because of some ongoing health problems, Charlie is not yet trained, and honestly is probably a few months away. I could spend a whole post on all of that, but I will spare you the details.
My immediate reaction to Charlie not being in school was to find a bunch of other organized and scheduled activities to fill our weeks. The thought of not having those two days a week with him at school made me feel overwhelmed. What am I going to do with him? I thought. How will I stay sane? I wondered. We’re rapidly approaching the time of year when Dave travels a lot, so I’m often on my own for days at a time. So I started looking up classes and activities for each of the boys. Before I knew it I had somewhere for us to go everyday. Gym class, music class, sports class, playgroups, storytimes…
But suddenly I felt confined by the idea of all of those activities. Where was the spontaneity? Where was the freedom? We’d end up shuttling around to do the same things week after week. I felt like my attempt to keep us busy would do just that, but maybe more busy than I really wanted. But on the flip side, I was afraid that without activities we’d end up spending everyday at home, watching way too much TV and getting tired of all our toys.
So I hatched a plan. I’m keeping our weekly schedule clear (except for a Bible study I plan on doing at church), and each week I will plan a fun—and maybe even educational—activity for the boys and me. Then I took it one step further: I’ll use each week’s activity as a jumping off point for a theme for each week. We’ll spend the week reading books, doing crafts, etc. based on the theme. That way even on the days we’re hanging out at home, what we do will be a little different week to week. I realized I don’t have to send Charlie to school to learn about the world; I can take him out in it to learn first hand.
To be honest, Charlie not being able to go to school really stung quite a bit at first, but I’m finally seeing it as a blessing in disguise. I have an opportunity to spend this season with him and enjoy being together. We all know kids grow up way to fast, so for the next few months I’m going to try to slow it down and soak up as much of him and Nate as possible. I’m looking forward to once again “taking the scenic route” through life.
And I plan to take you along with us on the adventure. Each week I’ll try to post about what we do and where we go. Enjoy the ride!
