Transition

The last day of school is here. We're getting out a lot later than other schools, and the kids have been chomping at the bit. But it's here, and as usual, I have mixed feelings about it.

On the one hand (the good things):

• no more making sure the kids are up. The big boys have done a wonderful job of getting themselves up early every morning so I never worried about them, but Hayley was a bit of a layabout and sometimes Matt had to be muscled out of bed.
• no more big school projects to worry about. No more last-minute requests for posterboard, money, paints, craft items, or special snacks that caught me off guard.
• no more homework to distract the children from helping with the housework/meal preparation :)
• no more paper piling up on my kitchen counters--no more health forms, permission slips, lunch menus, advertisements for after-school classes, letters regarding sports, etc
• time is now mine to do fun things with the kids (if I don't babysit that day--next week I'm totally off babysitting and I plan to take kids to a movie, to the science museum, to miniature golf, to whatever else I can pack in that one week of freedom)
• I can exercise right when I get up instead of waiting for Matt to be off to school to go on a walk. Not that he needs to have me there, but I always have to make sure he did everything he was supposed to before he left.

On the other hand (the not-so-good things):

• no more quiet.
• I will feel compelled to nag about the daily chores
• intersibling squabbling will increase dramatically
• I can't seem to get my own assignments done when there are people around
• I'll still have to babysit, which means all kids/all the time.
  

And so I sit here, watching the clock with a mixture of fear and relief, waiting for Jimmy to morph into a senior, and Paul to a sophomore, Hayley to a seventh grader, and Matt to a fifth-grader.