September

So it's September. Again. This year's difference is that I now have FOUR kids old enough to officially be homeschooling--and I say officially because as we all know, every parent out there homeschools their kids from birth until they leave the nest, even if they don't want to admit it. Anyway, the fact that Emma is officially entering the fold as far as lessons go is exciting and terrifying at once. First I have to deal with the whole "I'll never have another newborn/infant/ toddler/preschooler" issue. But then of course she has wanted to do school for several years now, and seeing her sweet face light up when she talks about being in Kindergarten and joining Daisy Girl Scouts is just adorable. But then when I am trying to organize four sets of school work, and thinking about how I'll help four kids with four sets of school work, I start going into panic mode. But then I remember that adding Ben to the homeschooling routines wasn't too bad and I settle down again. But then I think about how when Ben was added, Rachel was independent, and Julia wasn't too far from being independent, but now I'll have Ben who is less independent because the age gap between him and Emma is only 2 years, not 2.5 years and I start to panic again......

In short, I have spent this summer resolutely denying that September even exists. I have lived in the moment, enjoying all the things we've been doing, enjoying days where we do nothing too. I procrastinated viciously when it came to deciding what books to buy, in doing lesson planning and am only now completely my IHIPS (Individualized Home Instruction Plan, in case you care--which, by the way, is simply a syllabus and takes about 15 minutes to complete, most of which is lugging the books in by the computer and sorting them into subjects...) I am sticking to my guns and not starting school until the 14th--an entire week after Labor Day, despite the fact that I have seen that Arizona kids began school in July (~horrors!~) and other friends' kids went back two weeks, a week, or a day or two ago, and despite the fact that I have plenty of homeschool friends who either school year-round or started mid-August to give themselves wiggle room--I remain unpressured by the peers. So my summer is longer than just about anyone else's..and still I have insisted to myself that it will never end.

However.....despite my best intentions, September has arrived, and coincidentally, along with it has come bizarrely autumnal weather for this time of year. We had some real heat in August, even had the air conditioning on for almost two straight weeks, which we never do. Then all of a sudden the humidity evaporated, and a few days later the temperatures dropped down to a level that we generally don't see till October....barely 70* in the day time, down in the low 50s at night, sleeping with comforters, using bathrobes and slippers, the whole magilla. This change in the weather catapulted me into fall against my will--I have been browsing through catalogs and looking at Halloween decorations and wintry clothes, I have been making lists of school supplies we need, I have been mentally sorting kids' clothes into give away, save for next summer, save for another kid piles....and I have been working on my lesson plans and paperwork.

Stop it right now! I officially have twelve days of summer vacation coming to me. I don't want to think about this stuff yet. Why do I do it??