Adjustmenting

* warning : there are a lot of shouty words in this post.  I tried not to, but couldn’t help myself.  

Yep, I’m making up words again…

Adjustmenting : the act of changing tact to cope with one’s situation

I should start writing my own dictionary…
The 2015 Harvey Edition…
6000 new and improved words to add to your vocabulary!
I’m sure I could stretch it out to a least 6001…  

Any who….!  Back to what I actually wanted to talk about!!  

We have all three clowns at school now.  Prep, grade one and grade four.  And it’s been a bigger adjustment for this mum than I probably care to let on.  But this is the place to talk of all things, no matter if they are the good, the bad, or the ugly…  So let’s get on with it, shall we?!

Ella going into prep?  The child I ever so confidently thought would BREEZE through that classroom door everyday, from day one.  Yeah, well.  That didn’t happen.  She obviously didn’t get the memo.  How can you go from practically owning the Kindy, to digging your heals in AT THE DOOR on most days, because you just DO NOT want to go to school?  I don’t get it.  And because I am a mean mum, I leave her there.  In the care of a wonderful teaching team and she has an awesome day.  Every.  Single.  Day.  This child is doing my head in.

Grade one is just plain HARD.  Hard classroom, hard homework, hard playtime, hard swimming lessons.  You get the picture.  Life is just hard for the middle child.   And Reuben will tell anyone who will listen (or not, he’s not picky) all about his predicament that doesn’t seem to be changing to his liking.  I can’t get over how much his reading has improved in just a few short weeks of grade one, even though it’s all so HARD.  I think once he gets over himself, grade one will be fantastic everyday, not just on PE days.

Owen is loving grade four.  The extra responsibility and independence you are allowed once you hit grade four is significantly different to grade three.  And the teachers let them know just WHO is responsible, too. And that person is not me, or Marc.  It’s the kid.  It’s all Owen.  And that has been GOOD.   Excellent for him.  He doesn’t need to be reminded (too much) about what he needs to get ready for the day, or what uniform he needs to wear, whether it’s homework day etc etc.  I only hope that this new enthusiasm and responsibility lasts the whole year.  I have my fingers and toes crossed.  The workload he brings home however, is MASSIVE.  I really do feel for those parents of kids who don’t or wont do their homework.  Thankfully, Owen just takes it in his stride, and buckles down and just gets it done.  I have heard of parents having to bribe their kids to do homework or read or practice their spelling words.  So glad we haven’t had to resort to these measures.  Although, if you had of asked me two years ago, I would have jumped at the chance to try anything and everything to get him to do his homework without fighting about it!!

Marc has started a new role.  Which means more travel.  More time at the office. More meetings.  More of everything.  Which is great, really it is.  He revels in the challenge.  We, the other four, however are used to him being home more rather than less and not having to go away so much.  We have been spoilt these last couple of years so now we adjust accordingly.  Dinner times are sometimes Dad-less.  Nights are sometimes Dad-less.  But that’s OK.  We can handle it!  Some days ‘handling it’ requires more m and ms or an extra coffee…  But that’s OK too.

See?  Adjustmenting is a perfect word to use here!  We are all trying to go with the flow and fit everything in and adjust accordingly.

One day we will get it right.  One day…

M xo