OK, it's about time I get back to my blog. Too much time has passed since my last entry! It has been quite normal around our house, nothing too earth-shattering has happened. I will reflect on the month of August in a general sense, and get up to speed on the current happenings at the Holen house.
I have decided that August is my second least-favorite month of the year (next to February). I dislike August for the same reason I dislike February...it feels like one big marathon to the end. The transition of the seasons is impending, I am tired of summer, tired of gardening, tired of my flowers, and tired of pretty much everything. In February, I am sick of winter, sick of the cold, sick of being cooped up, etc. I think this dislike of August started as a child, when I was always ready for school to begin at about the beginning of the month. I had to wait the entire month until I could get back into it. Now, as an adult, by the beginning of August I am ready for the kids to go back to school, I am sick of paying full-time daycare for three kids, and I have the entire month stretched out ahead of me like a North Dakota interstate. I usually am stressed and barely functional by mid-August, it seems. Many years, August is a difficult month at work, which usually initiates my downward spiral into the throes of worry, stress, anxiety, etc. It seems as though if things CAN go wrong in August, they DO go wrong. And there I am, awake every night until midnight, stressed, crabby, etc.
Soooo, I am more than happy to put August behind me. I would really like to change my thinking on this dreary month, since the weather is usually nice, and there is a lot to do. But, I will have to somehow shift my experience and my mindset first to accomplish an August that I actually enjoy.
But, here we are at the beginning of September, interestingly enough one of my favorite months (next to June and December). The kids have just returned to school, and Lilly has started preschool. This was a very difficult idea for me to grasp. My sweet, little baby. Baby of the babies. My little girl, my googey-head, my strong-willed, persnickety, lover of attention. How can it be? How can I be sending her off to school. Sure, I tell myself, it is only preschool. BUT, my experience has been that once they start school (even preschool), it is like someone hit the gas, and we are zooming through life. Measuring our days in terms of the school calendar (no school in two weeks, Christmas break is coming up, only 6 weeks until summer vacation). Before you know it, we are back at September, and I am sending my babies off to another level. So weird.
This being said, Lilly absolutely LOVED preschool, which makes it very hard to be mopey for too long, because she is simply joyful about the experience. Alex has begun fourth grade, and I am feeling really good about his year, too. He has a nice teacher, and he has done a lot of growing up over the summer, so I am thinking this will be his best year yet as far as his social and academic skills are concerned. Cameron has begun third grade, and I am certain he will have a great year. It maybe is a middle-child thing, but I have no concerns about this child. He is a smart boy, gets good grades, has lots of friends, is well-behaved, etc. I need to make sure sometimes, that I am giving him enough attention, because he requires very little.
I think that's about all for our lives today.
