Loose thoughts after the second week of school

The school year is barely a week and a half old, but it feels much longer than that. It is not that my days are crammed full, I’m quite enjoying the emerging spaces, but there has been so much emotional content in each day that my mind wants to push the first day of school further into the past to make space for it all.

Kiki melted down again. So far we’ve had two Thursdays and two meltdowns. She felt overwhelmed and under pressure. The good news is that despite the way she felt about all of it, she kept working and got 90% of it done. Friday was the aftermath, but fortunately she got to go to RPG night and came home happy again.

Today Kiki and I have spent time focused on her homework. We’re using this three day weekend to work ahead. Hopefully this will prevent next week’s meltdown. Even better, Kiki is able to see how today has been a cheerful mix of both work and things that she enjoys doing. Kiki can totally handle her schoolwork just as soon as she starts believing that she can.

The other kids also seem to be settling in fairly well. The schedule has settled and tasks have fallen into their proper nooks and crannies. The kitchen is cleaner more often because I have a small space in my day when doing kitchen work makes sense. Howard will be home soon and then we will have another period of adjustment while we try to fit Howard’s routine into the other routines. But first he has to recover from jet lag.