That would be the smell of my C-L-E-A-N mud room and kitchen. Believe it or not, the two dirtiest rooms in my house. Funny thing is, they looked clean. However when I started scrubbing, the dirt that came off...the shine that was left was blinding! Things look soo much better now! What's even more awesomer? My kids are in school All.Day.Long! They can't mess it up while I am gone! Just the blasted cat...but she can't dump food everywhere...well...she can..never mind. I am feeling the stress melt away and the excitement of the new school year, fall, family time, HOLIDAYS, and all the memories of a new "year".
Do you hear that? That would be the sound of quiet. Quiet after 8pm. They are bathing then. Not together though. That's weird. But, while one bathes, the other two are packing backpacks, getting their stuff set out etc. Then, it's BED TIME. The sound is also the sound of organization. I heart organization. I love that everything has a place. Everyone has a schedule. There is an order to things. I get home at 5:45. I make dinner. We check homework. Kids eat. Perhaps play a little long outside, then it's bath time. Then, bed. Lather, Rinse, Repeat! I am sure I will hate school and all it's schooly goodness in about a month, but for now? It's Awesome.
J came home with a paper explaining her 12th grade research paper. Holy S, ya'll. It stressed me out just reading it. When I was in High School, it was common knowledge that every year you had to do a research report for English. If you didn't do it, or you failed it, you failed the quarter. Now, to an underachiever like me (I also want to interject and say I think I have some mild ADD too, because I wouldn't know where to begin, get overwhelmed, and shut down...hell, I'm like that now.) all this meant was I didn't have to do it. As long as I pulled C's and D's the rest of the year and did decent of my final, I'd still pass. J's paper? If she doesn't do it, or fails it, or doesn't do it in the specific order of the 87 and a half steps the teacher laid out, she fails. Period. Not just English 12, either. She will not graduate come June. No matter what her other grades are. End of story. Fineto.
Oh yeah, this totally in depth, research report with it's 87 and a half steps is due, DUE, November 11th.
Way to Ruin my birthday weekend, asshats. I say ruin my, Birthday weekend, because J is just like me. She has the same work ethic I did, which is none. Oh, she'll start out with good intentions. May even pick her book with actual interest and thought. Knowing J, she will probably read it too. But that's about it. I am going to have to stay on her. Check her work. Show her where it's lacking. Show her where it needs editing. FORCE her to work on it. Stand over her shoulder if need be, because her dad and I both know, if left on her own, she would surely not do it/fail it/forget to turn it in/not read the book etc. Last night HE even panicked when he read the paper. "She doesn't have TIME to do all this! She DOESN'T HAVE TIME!!!!!"Which, at that point, I might as well do the paper too. Eff. My. Life. Stupid English teacher.
This is J's final year of high school. I want her to earn that $100. I want her to go out with good grades, and hopefully an waay better work ethic. I want better for her that what I did with my life. Not that I regret my life, or the paths I took, because they all lead me here....but I wouldn't have struggled. I want better for her. Now that I can access her her assignments/grades on line daily, when it can still make a difference, I plan on staying on top of her. If she slips, and her dad and I can't help, I am calling to get her a tutor. Might as well take advantage of the free help that is available!
All in all, the first day was a success. Bee and I celebrated by sending them all off to bed, and going out and grabbing a beer, or 3 ;) It was a fun time. I can not wait to see what the school year brings!
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