My Real Life

School has started and we are all adjusting to the new routine.

Some days, Monkey Girl and I are up and out of here before the boys are even blinking their eyes.

(Not including Real Man who is up at the crack of dawn to exercise)

We drop off Tiny on our way to school, and hit the ground running once we get there.

After school there is field hockey, football, ice hockey, voice lessons, youth group at one church, CCD at another, dinner, baths, showers, books and finally (blissfully) bed.

I don’t say this to complain.  We are no more busy than any other family I know, and everyone seems to be fully enjoying school and the activities with which they are involved.

Nighttime routines have changed, as well.

Monkey in the Middle is allowed to stay up half an hour later than he used to, and Baby Monkey has adjusted well to going to bed alone.

Monkey in the Middle has also decided he doesn’t want to sit with Baby while he is read to before bed.

Instead, he brings his own chapter book into Monkey Girl’s room and reads on her bed, next to her.

(Of course, he wanted me to know that, every now and then, he wouldn’t mind hearing some of those books we pick out of the library…particularly the Halloween ones.)

So, Baby gets Real Man and/or I all to himself during books, which makes going to bed alone more palatable.

By the time Monkey in the Middle is done with his reading time, Baby Monkey is fast asleep, and Monkey in the Middle is soon to follow.

And then there is Monkey Girl who would stay up reading all night if we let her.

However, she too has a bedtime and when it comes, we go in and tuck in that long body of hers, kiss her and tell her how very much we love her.

And then go collapse in our bed.

For ten minutes until Monkey Girl comes in to tell us something she forgot to tell us before bedtime.

And then wants to be re-tucked in.

Some things never change.

🙂

Another thing that never changes is dinner.

It remains one of the highlights of my day as we sit around and share stories from our days, adults and children talking to each other and over each other, but still listening to each other, Tiny shrieking his own little sentences from his chair, desperate to be part of the conversation.

It’s a new routine…very different from the laid back ease of the summer.

It’s chaotic on the best of days, and yet…

Life is good.