Fall

This fall, I think Matt and I have finally perfected our schedule.  It may include less hours of sleep for me, but somehow, I'm finding I have more energy.  In fact, I think the only reason I sleep at all is because I have a built in defense mechanism in the form of narcolepsy.   I've moved my workouts from the after work/school rush time period to before work.  This leaves more time for my kid ubering in the evenings.

Monday - Luke and Ade have swimming
Tuesday - Luke has swimming
Wednesday - Luke and Ade have piano and both have swimming after that; Coco has gymnastics
Thursday - Ade has swimming
Friday - Luke has swimming and lacrosse
Saturday - Luke has lacrosse
Sunday - Ade has lacrosse

Throw in some swim meets and lacrosse tournaments and we have a full fall.  We are also in the throws of repeating 5th grade.  Matt and I take turns helping Luke with homework.  And by "helping," I mean, teaching ourselves the unit first or reading the literature chapters first and then attempting the assignments.  It's not just that the material they teach in 5th grade now is what we covered in 7th grade, it's that there is an entirely new system of teaching the material.  I literally had to spend 20 minutes figuring out a math assignment on volume (volume!) the other day before I could even tell if Luke's answers were right or wrong.   Volume itself is not a complex idea but counting 3d cubes (inside a larger cube) that are misaligned on a piece of paper is quite maddening.

Can we please go back to recess and play 4 square, already?!  Is that too much to ask for?

And by the way, 2nd grade is still as innocent as it was 30 years ago.  Why the huge jump that starts in 3rd grade.  I'm happy to hand over the trophy to the chinese students that blow our kids away on standardized tests.  I don't want my kids to be standard anyway!