Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Does it Really Need to be Like THIS?

Update:  Thankfully, things are not going to be quite as busy as I thought they were going to be in September.  One of the sports is not starting until October, and some end sooner than I thought they would.  I feel somewhat better now . . . it's still going to be busy, but slightly less busy!

NOTE:  If this post lacks coherence, please forgive me.  My brain is fried. 
And I already know that my grammar is far from perfect :(

For some reason I am feeling VERY overwhelmed today.  I can't exactly pinpoint what it is . . . I guess there are various factors that have contributed to my feeling this way, and I think most of it has to do with the fact that school and extra curricular activities have started or will be starting soon.  We as a family have been doing some collective soul searching on the topic of education in the past week, which has personally left my head spinning.  Perhaps I'll blog more on that at a later date, but it all comes down to this at the moment:  Life is busy.  September is busy.  It makes me tired just looking at the calendar!

Here is a brief synopsis of how this month is going to shape up:  Aside from the fact that I've started a "new" job in a sense, I'm also currently working more hours than I originally had hoped for the month of September.  My contract allows for 15 hours per week on average, but for the next while it will be more like 20-25 hours that I'll be working just to get into the swing of things at the new school.  In a couple of weeks it will die down to the 15 hours per week that it is supposed to be.  And I've been assured that I won't end up working more hours than I'm getting paid for, which I really appreciate at my new work placement.  There are no expectations above and beyond the regular scheduled hours of work.  But believe me, the 5 hours I'm there each day already does me in!

The boys are both going to be starting cross-country running at their school, which runs for about 3-4 weeks during the month of September.  On top of this, Mitchell has volleyball practice twice a week plus the potential for Saturday tournaments or some after-school games.  He's also in band again this year, and he travels to a neighboring community once a week for a 1.5 hour practice with other band students from various towns; on the same day as band, he has Tae Quon Do, which will be starting in the third week of September.  He also has the Bridge event at church, which happens to fall right on his birthday!  This is a monthly event which he thoroughly enjoys.

Thankfully, since Ty is still too young to be involved in as many school activities as Mitchell, his schedule is not quite so demanding.  His only activity for September is cross-country running.  I was going to start him in swimming lessons next week, but I quickly realized that with all of Mitchell's extra-curr there is no way I could incorporate swimming at this time.  So, Ty will be starting swimming the third week of October; hopefully after all of Mitchell's volleyball is over and done with. 

In addition to what the boys do, I have my own activities to participate in as well.  I've mentioned this in a previous blog post-- I've got a mentoring relationship that I'm a part of (in which I am mentoring someone younger), and I am also involved in the BOOK Club at church.  I also hold the chairperson position for our church's children program known as The Bridge, (which I eluded to earlier).  On top of all that I've decided to start my own little something which I've been planning all summer.  I won't reveal all the details on that just yet, but watch for it in a future post.  I'll give you a hint.  It's got something to do with cheesecake!  And it's something that I really feel I need to initiate.

And in case you didn't know, my husband is a shift-worker and therefore basically not really part of our lives for 2 weeks out of each month . . .when he's home during the day he's sleeping, so we really only have Sundays together on those weeks that he's working the evening shift.  We happen to be right in the midst of that right now, which is probably why I'm feeling overwhelmed.  I'm single-parenting! 

Oh, I just thought of something else that I've committed myself to doing once a month, and that is providing respite to a foster mom friend of mine for her foster boys aged 5 and 7.  Except this month I'll be having them in my care for 2 weekends instead of one because I didn't have them during the summer at all and the foster mom wants to make up for "lost" weekends.  I've been doing this for over a year now and it's gone quite well.  Her kids adjust to our way of living for the weekend and the boys enjoy playing with the foster kids.

So, there you have it.  This might explain why I feel overwhelmed.  And please, don't get me wrong.  As far as my boys are concerned, I'm glad that they are able to become involved in various extra-curricular activities.  They seem to enjoy the madness, but to be honest, as soon as I arrive home from work I am already looking forward to bedtime.  Unfortunately, in between arriving home and going to bed there is all the regular life stuff that still needs to be taken care of . . . meals, laundry, cleaning, etc. etc.   And while I do realize they are involved in A LOT, September is the only month that some of these activities take place, so it's not like every month is like this!

I can't wait for November, because I think then our lives will finally slow down a bit.

4 comments:

Chris said...

I hear you, Kim. I was freaking. right. out. at the thought of all four of us playing hockey this year. I am desperately seeking balance and priorities, trying to lay it all out before God and see what He actually wants for us. Dreading the time commitment & $'s needed is NOT the way I want to begin a new school year. We may consider a once a week rec team for the boys instead of competitive league hockey. Still praying for peace on this. Hockey is only one facet of this family's activities/commitments! (to top it off, the SS co-ordinator just called here recruiting) Will be praying for you as I remember to take our family to God in prayer too.

Carol said...

Kim, you may not be looking for advice, but if I were you, I'd start cutting stuff out right now. There was one December a couple of years ago where I had 2 or 3 different Christmas parties to go to, Leighton had 2 other ones and then there was the kids' Christmas concerts - we realized that trying to do it all was ridiculous and we cut out half our commitments. December was a much happier month that way. Good luck!

Anonymous said...

I can relate to so many of your recent posts: feeling overwhelmed in September, and your feelings about summer ending and your kids growing up - pros and cons. Thanks for sharing!

Anita

Melanie N. Brasher said...

wow, you've got a lot on your plate, girl. Praying for you now.