Third Week of School

Is anyone else having as much difficulty as I am in getting kids up and moving for school? It used to be that I was the last one up (and on weekends and holidays I still am), last year. I'm embarrassed to admit the kids would wake me up so I could help them get ready for school.

This year, I'm getting up and spending about thirty to forty minutes just getting them out of bed and dressed. Then there is another 20 minutes to get them to eat and out the door. This is especially difficult for me because my patience meter is at its lowest point in the morning...because I'm not a morning person.

Take this morning. Faith was being persnickety about which shoes she wanted to wear at school. Actually, she knew which shoes she wanted, but they were not appropriate for gym. Not a problem, take your tennis shoes in for gym. "But I don't know how to tie them!" (Which is not technically true. She can, she's just not very proficient. This is one of the draw backs of being the only girl born on both sides of the family for the last 36 years. She doesn't have to do anything herself. She'll find someone who'll give in to her requests.)

I laid out her choices for her. She sat in her room and cried for 30 minutes. She wouldn't even get dressed to the point of shoes. She was stuck (sometimes I wonder if she's modeling Jonathan's Asperger symptoms or if she has some). I was stupefied. I was so weary that I couldn't even lose my patience. So, I called my husband at work and handed the phone to Faith. Somehow Scott proposed a solution more acceptable to her than mine. (Forgive me for amusing myself. All the words in italics are on the teacher's recommended word list, which I'm supposed to be using this week for my kids. I found the word list as I was unpacking their backpacks this morning. The Lord has a sense of humor. I was able to use these words this morning with my kids talking about these very issues. I think the humor was lost on them, though.)

That was what was going on behind door number one. Behind door number two, I have Jonathan who moves as fast as a sloth in the morning. Every five minutes when I check on him, he swears he's doing what I've asked him to do. But I can see no perceptible movement from the last five times I checked on him.

I've told all his service providers that the powers that be need to develop an ADHD medication which can be administered by a pump (like for diabetics) an hour before Jonathan wakes up. This way, Jonathan will be focused on the tasks at hand. Getting out of the bed, getting dressed, eating breakfast, packing his backpack, etc.

Lord, I'm praying that this is going to get easier as the school year continues. And I'm praying that you'll help me become more disciplined about getting up earlier, because, as You know, the kids will be getting up earlier and earlier as they progress in the grades.