These last days of summer

I can't believe summer is nearly gone.  Monster Boy goes back to school next week, and I follow the week after.  Miss Sunshine will start attending the Mom's Day Out program at the gym I work at on my school days, rather than full fledged daycare.  This is a good option for us financially, as well as being a good transition for her to me being gone.  Next year, she will start preschool at the same school Monster Boy attends (I was pleasantly surprised to discover they have 3 year old preschool!) and the second semester will go to preschool and daycare afterward, as, if all goes as planned, I will be starting my clinicals and she will need full time child care.

We are spending this week getting up bright and early to get back in to school routine.  Which is SORT OF working.  Monster Boy is getting up bright and early at any rate.  We have decided he is old enough to need to bathe daily now (he has eczema, dry skin, and overly sensitive skin all combined, so up to now we have been bathing him every other day to avoid drying his skin out too much), and gave him the option of showering at night before bed (apparently he is too big for baths now, or so I have been informed!) or in the morning before breakfast.  He chose morning, so he has to get up half an hour earlier than last year.  So, Daddy Mac wakes him up before he leaves for work, Monster Boy hops in the shower, eats his breakfast, brushes his teeth (which I now have to monitor as he has started trying to avoid actually brushing by simply running water in the sink for a minute or so to try and trick us in to thinking he actually BRUSHED) and get dressed, and then off to school we go.  Or, will, once school actually starts.  He has done well the last two days with getting out of bed without fighting.  Me, on the other hand, I have not done as well.  I'm trying to make myself get up before he does to exercise but have failed miserably.  Instead, I get up when he does, help with breakfast as needed (he prefers a small breakfast like yogurt or granola, which he can manage himself, but sometimes likes oatmeal or something that requires cooking) and get in to gym clothes so that we can head to the gym once Miss Sunshine awakes - or, starting next week, once we drop Monster Boy off.

I'm ready to get in to our new routine and see how everyone does with Mom going back to school - including Mom!