Things are changing. Again.
The wind rushes violently through the branches of our trees outside my open back door.
This summer has been different from all the rest and now that school is starting next week, even this feels different. The weather isn’t the suffocating heat and humidity that we usually have this time of year. It feels almost like spring, which makes me feel a little discombobulated (as my mom used to always say when I was young and living at home). It’s wonderful to sit out on our deck and enjoy this beautiful springy summer mornings together.
There are back to school lists everywhere that help us prep for an ultimate 1st day back to school. I always have good intentions to do better at prepping for the start of school but, honestly, I hardly do any of that stuff.
What we are usually trying to do is squeeze in all the summery familyness we possibly can instead of facing the back -to-school music. We don’t start going to bed earlier three weeks before school starts (who wants to be thinking about school three weeks ago?) and we don’t go school clothes or school supply shopping when it’s all in stock. We go at the last minute and sift through all of the leftovers.
My favorite part about school starting is, of course, the familyness part!
Back-to-School Familyness for us:
*a fun back-to-school dinner in our backyard (I’ll share this once we have ours this year)
*fashion shows of current clothes and us all being impressed by all of the items that no longer fit because of the growth spurt everyone had over the summer
*getting back to our nighttime routine of reading at night and answering questions in our question book…even if it’s 11:30pm (we realize that, with the craziness of summer bedtimes hours, we’ve really missed that time to connect as a family each night)
*dinner time conversations about upcoming school days
*ideas for lunch notes (more coming on this in a couple of weeks)
*spending way too long in the aisles of Wal-Mart looking for the three prong folders that are always gone (Fred’s always has them, thank you Fred’s)
*having late night movie marathons
I would love to be a lot better at getting back to more regular sleep patterns before school starts, I’m confident it would help my kids be more rested for the first day of school. What’s more important to me, though, is looking for opportunities to connect, create familyness, and give my kids a solid feeling of love here at home and a safe place to fall each day after school.
I know that I’m not the only one who believes in the power of familyness in the days before school starts.
What do you do to connect and create familyness, to prepare for life, back in the school-time swing?
Download your back-to-school dinner time questions here.
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Davina Fear is a Familyness Adventurer. She enjoys a bowl of Lucky Charms occasionally. And sometimes she hides in her closet when the drama gets too high.
She blogs at davinafear.com and teaches The Familyness Photo Workshop.
2 Comments
Davina! This sounds amazing! What is your question book?!?!?! I think that sounds like a great thing that I’d love to learn more about!!!!
Lauren, it’s so fun! We finished the book and I love it! You can purchase it on Amazon here: