Maybe it’s because this was the first summer in 14 years of being a parent that I felt I had a real vacation, a real break from routine, but I find myself truly ambivalent about the kids going back to school. I am not at all ambivalent about the packed lunches (shoot me now) or about the day full of silence (I will never, ever not want that. Ever. Don’t even try to tell me that a day will come when I will wish for more boys’ noise.). Other than those though, for every positive, I can think of a negative, for every new freedom, a restraint. I am, in equal parts, looking forward to and dreading all of these things:
7. After-school activities
6. Early bedtimes
5. Structure
4. Three square meals a day
3. No more digital babysitting screen time during the week
2. Rules
1. The Almighty Schedule
4 Mothers 