whiteboard

Maybe it’s because I was a geek, or maybe I have always relished new beginnings, but as far back as I can remember I LOVED the beginning of the school year.

New clothes, pristine notebooks and a package of new pens, the world of possibilities opened by new teachers and new classes…. I loved it all.  From elementary school all the way through grad school and beyond, the start of school has always been a time of hopeful anticipation for me.

As a mom, I enjoy the back-to-school rituals with my son.  Getting him new shoes and a fresh haircut, shopping for a new backpack or lunchbox.  And really enjoying the last few days of summer with bike rides and extra popsicles.

Fall is also the time I really get the urge to “GET ORGANIZED.”  Each year I was in school, probably starting in high-school, but definitely in college, I always vowed that this would be the year that I would come up with a schedule and really stick to it.  Not get behind on my reading, always hand in my papers on time, practice music diligently, and work out regularly to boot.

Needless to say, I never achieved those lofty goals, and still find myself in the fall swearing that this year, I’m really gonna get my act together.  I’m going to have a master calendar so that I don’t schedule a workshop on top of a violin recital.  Or double book myself for a work meeting and a school meeting… UGGG.

I vow that this year, I will not find myself scrambling in the morning to fill the lunchbox with something besides an apple, a handful of stale pretzels and a little tub of peanut butter.  This is the year I will have all forms, permission slips, and other miscellaneous paperwork filled out, signed and returned before the last possible minute.

Can I get an “amen?”

I’m pretty good with the food thing.   I usually manage to pull off a lunch with at least three of the four major food groups, and at least one fruit or veggie (even if it’s fruit leather!), but I’m still working on the scheduling thing… that seems to be one of my biggest challenges.

I am making progress,however, slowly but surely.

Last year, I figured out a way to help my son get to school with everything he needs on any given day (which changes!).  Maybe this will help someone else!

At the beginning of the school year, I put up a dry-erase board on the door we exit on the way to school.  I listed the days of the week and beside each one, drew a small picture of what needed to go to school that day and what after-school activities were scheduled.  So Monday it was easy to see that AJ needed to take his violin to school, and that we had a violin lesson after school.  Tuesdays were gymnastics and homework days.  Wednesday, the homework folder needed to go back to school… etc.

If there was something special to remember- a permission slip, or project supplies, that could be added easily to the right day.

At the bottom, I had pictures of things that he needed to bring everyday:  lunchbox and hat stayed constant, though the picture of the hat changed from ballcap to winter hat sometime in October.  When it got really chilly, we added mittens to the list and when snow came, AJ drew a picture of a sled on the board.

Instead of asking, “Do you have everything?” (to which he would always answer “yes,”  I asked, “Have you checked the list?”  If he hadn’t, he would.

This little thing made all our lives much easier- and cut down on the frustration (his and mine) of forgotten items.

How about you?  What have you figured out that works for you and your family?  What’s your biggest challenge with getting everyone back to school?

As moms, we spend a lot of time trying to coax our children to try new things.  Whether it’s a new food, a new activity or  a new friendship, it seems like we’re always encouraging them to be open to new experiences.

As moms, many of our new experiences come through our children.  Thanks to my son, I’ve tried all kinds of things I never would have even thought twice about.  And I’m grateful for the ways he’s taken me out of my comfort zone in all kinds of ways.

But it also seems like there comes a time when we get to give ourselves a pass.  I remember having a conversation with other moms about whether the ‘one bite rule’ applied to the grownups as well as the kids in the family.  One of the moms said that she had lived long enough to know that there were certain foods she didn’t like, would probably never like, and wasn’t planning to try ever again.

I remember thinking what a healthy sense of boundaries she had.  She was open to all kinds of new experiences,  and she was just really clear about her preferences in this area.  There was a real consciousness in her position, it wasn’t a knee-jerk, “I hate brussles sprouts.”

This is on my mind because today I found myself scaling a 30 foot telephone pole in just prior to stepping off a 2 foot square platform attached via a very sturdy set of harnesses and a couple of carabiners to a zip line.

One of the stories I tell about myself is that I’m game for anything, and for the most part this is true.  But I’ve also come to see that maybe I don’t have to be.

In the last decade I’ve had enough involuntary adrenaline surges that I don’t really enjoy that sensation much anymore, even under the heading of recreation.

So as I reached the 20 foot mark, I found myself with that familiar sensation:  heart racing, palms sweating, asking myself, “Do I really need to do this?”

I gave some serious consideration to climbing right back down the pole.  I was with family, so I wasn’t really worried about anyone giving me a hard time about it but I decided to keep going.

I was telling myself that a measure of fear at the prospect of climbing the pole and then jumping off it was a sign of a healthy survival instinct, but as I reached the top, it was clear to me that I would take this jump, but that this would probably be the last time I’d volunteer to do this to myself.

The story of ‘being game for anything’ has served me well for many years.  It has taken me into situations that pushed my comfort zone in good ways, and allowed me to play in sandboxes I might never have known existed.

But on this day, I could see how this story had put me into a situation I didn’t really need to be in.

I took the leap- and aside from the moment of terror at stepping off the platform, it was kind of fun.  But not that much fun.  And the residual effects of the rush weren’t that fun at all.

It was one of those situations where I’m glad I did it, and I really don’t have to do it again.

This is not to say that I want to get stuck in my comfort zone- but I don’t want to be stuck outside it either.  So I’m letting myself off the hook.

I’ll continue to encourage my son to step out of his comfort zone- but also to know when NOT to.

So how about you?  What stories have you told about yourself that keep you in (or out) of your comfort zones?  Where have you given yourself conscious permission to be where you are?

Do-Overs and High-Fives is still on hiatus… Back to our regularly scheduled posts next week!

Well folks here it is Tuesday afternoon.  I promised to post on Tuesdays and Fridays- and so far have managed to make good on that promise.

Who knows when or if the major garage cleaning will ever happen.  (And if it does, it will necessarily involve a garage re-organization project, which might very well involve the installation of, removal of or rearranging of various shelves and storage options which is certain to require at least one trip to the hardware store…. you see where this is going?!?!?)