School days

Now that my big boys are back at school I am feeling at ease with our complete routines. I love routine and with so many kids it is needed to maintain some sense of order within our home.

I am feeling really proud and gooey right now. You see last year my boys hated school. Mornings were a constant battle to raise them from their graves, getting them dressed, and fed and at school ON TIME.
They whinged and complained and just hated it.

They must have had a little turn around over the holidays. We are into week 2 and they haven't complained once. They rise and put on their uniforms, assist with lunches and off they go 15 minutes early!

Homework used to be a huge battle. If they even remembered to bring it home or not feed it to the dog (literally) then they would whinge and carry on like pork chops about doing it. They despised reading their sight words and books. It made me quite down, I believe education is our future. I want my children to strive and be the best they can be.

This year in week 2 I am so shocked at the amazing change. They get home with limited arguing. After school punch ups are a thing of the past and homework is their first priority.
Tman is a left handed boy and has had a bit of trouble with his handwriting. As he hasn't received homework just yet I have been doing my own in order for him to practice correcting his flaws. Spacing and neatness have been an issue but we are working on it and I really am optimistic. He has a new found enthusiasm when it comes to learning. I am a proud mummy.

The boys haven't ruined one lunch box, school bag or pair of shoes so far and I am hoping that continues. They haven't forgotten their drink bottles at all either!!

Around the dinner table this week we discussed what the boys get up to in their lunch hours. They told us they play together at the library. I had flashbacks to my primary school days - Kids with no friends hung out in the library. After a slight panic attack I asked them why they didn't get out and play. Jman loves his Lego which I found out the library is filled with. Tman was worried about him and decided to "look after" him for a few days as he was limited to what he could do in prep. Tman introduced Jman to all his buddies and for the past 2 days Jman and a few of his year one mates have been joining Tman and his year 2 mates in games of "secret spies".

"Secret spies" when explained to me is about a group of year 2 boys spying on year 2 girls to make sure the girls aren't getting any romantic ideas about the boys. Cute right?

I feel much more relieved knowing Jman has settled into year one with guidance from his big brother. As much as they are like chalk and cheese sometimes they always look out for one another.

As the boys have the same teachers as last year I am also relieved to be able to trust the teachers curriculum. To know my boys are getting the very best when it comes to their grade keeps me smiling.

I am so glad they have finally settled in well and am really looking forward to what this school year brings.

How have your kids settled in back to school? Does anyone have any tips on help with left handed children when it comes to handwriting?

Welcome 2012

Reading Mrs BC's post today on how to not only make resolutions but to keep them gave me a bit more insight into my own.
I know my biggest resolution is to stop allowing people to trample all over me.
But there are about 10 others I'd love to follow through with.
They will require planning and organization.
The Daddy Man is not a planner. He is happy to wing everything which does result in lots of yelling and cursing on my behalf. I am a planner and a list writer. I like things done a specific way at certain times.
OCD much?

Here is my top 10 list and how I WILL achieve them.

 
1. Like a lot of other people, losing excess weight is number 1. A new 24 hour gym opened down the road from me just before Christmas. My goal is to attend said gym at least 3 times a week. This means that working within The Daddy Mans working hours I will need to rise at around 5am most days to attend the gym for an hour. Then be back in time to dress and feed the chillies before school.
2. To be more organised. Managing school hours better, packing lunches and homework the night before, planning weekend activities etc. These will need to work around The Daddy Mans hours but I'm sure it can be done.
3. Keeping the house neater. I guess this kind of relates to the above resolution but i think it deserves a bullet of its own. I want to get more on top of messes and washing and dishes and folding and mopping. Pretty much anything cleaning related. I will need to stop sitting down after the kids go to bed thinking "ahhh thank goodness" those pesky dishes wont do themselves and its twice as much work the following day.
4. To take more photos. I am not very good at taking pics. They tend to always be blurry or out of focus etc. It sucks but i guess more practice wouldn't hurt. Organisation and confidence will also assist.
5. A firm budget. Money has always been a topic that The Daddy Man and i could never discuss without war erupting. I spend too much, he spends too much on shit. Something amazing occurred in December though, we sat done and did up a budget together minus fighting or arguing. We worked as a team and didn't get stressed. The goal is to work on refining it more so that we live fairly stress free.
6. More family days out. Being that The Daddy Man works in a department store, he rarely gets weekends free. We need to plan activities to do as a family that will coincide with his days off and work hours. A family holiday is something we will be saving for also. Our first!
7. Study. to improve my sad education and enter a course I have only hoped for. Financial constraints aside If i work hard im sure i can achieve this
8. Managing my mental health. I will accept The Daddy Mans offers of help more, I will take deep breaths more and rethink thoughts 3 times before making decisions and harbouring emotions. I will talk more and not bottle so much up to explode. Being unmedicated is no longer scary. Refining my plan to become mentally healthier will help.
9. As sad as it sounds, I am 25 and do not have my drivers license. The medication I was on for many years made it illegal to drive while under the influence. Now I am medication free I can look forward to becoming a more independent version of me. Practice practice practice.
10. To sew. I do not have a sewing machine anymore and i miss it. I will be asking The Daddy Man for one for my birthday (this month) I will attempt to sew masterpieces!

I guess once a new year is upon us we tend to hope for a new beginning.

It gives us incentive to dream and hope to achieve things we havent yet mastered. I really am looking forward to being the ME I want to be. It might take grit and getting off my butt more but nothing worth anything comes easy.

Planning is a fantastic way to ensure success.