Tuesday, October 05, 2010

The way it is

Something strange has been going on since spring 2010 and I’m not sure what to make of it.  See the summer was….long!  See, school got out early due to  budget cuts and started late because we were building a new school and it took until the last minute to get it done.  Five minutes have been added to the school day to make up for it.  Yet, I was grossly unprepared for summer.  I had the usual things in mind; the pool pass purchased ahead of time for the better deal, plans for zoos, outings, baseball etc.  I will have to sit for a licensing exam this spring so i intended to study for that.  What happened instead: discontentment.  Pre-teen girls do not mix with home body boys intent on shooting everything up.   Oh yeah, and junior high students don’t go to the pool…unless they are absolutely certain their friends are there.  So poor Alan was stuck at the pool with mom.  Even Hans quit going because either his friends weren’t there or he was afraid Erin and Collin were having too much fun at home alone!  Gasp.  So much for studying while they were all at the pool having fun.  There goes fun activity number 1.  It was a mess, the summer drug on and on.  No one wanted zoos or parks or trips to town and the highlight of the summer (baseball)  became a disaster for Alan as his team got pounded every single game.

Perhaps it became poor parenting on my part, but I have not been this out of control of a time period in a long time.  Why am I going on and on about this now???  I’m exhausted!  I started back to work with meetings and trainings in early August even though the kids did not go back until August 31st.  School started at the college the week before, the same week as 2 a days for volleyball and football which were not at the same time!  We have not stopped running since.  Monday: home at 6 after practice; Tuesday: piano and gymnastics after vb and fb; Wednesday: AWANA after VB and FB; Thursday: game day for both VB and FB; Friday collapse or go to the HS FB game. 

Last night Erin got to go with the B team for a tournament.  She is C team, so to go with B team was a good things we/she thought.  She collapsed in tears last night.  Not only did the team lose all 3 games (badly), she did not play.  She was put in for maybe 3-5 minutes at a time.  Long enough to have balls slammed at her that she did not always get because she had barely gotten her feet on the court.    She collapsed in tears when she got home begrudging her only home night of the week and feeling like the whole night was a waste.  Collin was down this weekend because he has yet to have a ball thrown to him as 3rd string receiver even though the first 2 drop balls all the time, are not as fast as me, or as strong… 

Sigh, the late night feedings, diapers and crying may be exhausting in infancy, but this stage of parenting… has it’s own perils..

Help me Father God and thank YOU for getting me through each day!

5 comments:

Staci said...

I'll never forget complaining about being tired while I was pg with Brody. I was at a Bible study at the Wilson's house. Shelia Burgess looked at me and laughed. She said, "Girl, you will be tired until the day your kids leave for college...and even then you'll probably stay up at night worrying about them!" lol I guess she's right. Fatigue is just part of parenting. We keep hoping it'll get better at the next stage....but will it?

Teri said...

I think there can be a reprieve in grade school unless you get too busy with rec activities. We have done baseball but not all the others. It's a choice issue, but once they get to JrH it seems that it is inevitable.

Steve and Joan said...

Just stop every once in a while and listen to the song "You're Gonna Miss This", then let out a long sigh and break into a big smile.

Steve

Steve and Joan said...

Teri, When I heard this song I thought of Chris. It is a song about plowing a field from a farmer's perspective. The guy who sings it was a Canadian folk singer who was tragically killed in a fire on board a DC-8 airliner.

http://www.stanrogers.net/

Go to Stan's website and scroll down to the featured song "Field Behind the Plow."

Teri said...

Steve, I've meant to say, your posts are always encouraging! Thank you and the songs are a great reminder!