Hey guys! I should write a book called Twas the night before School Starts because every year, it’s a night full of mania. Sunday night, the kids must’ve been excited about their first day back so they were running & screaming around the house like wild chickens. Everything is all fun & games until you tell them to get in the shower. Then all you hear is, “but mom! Why? I took a shower already...yesterday”. Then after showers comes the nightly wrestle to get them to go to sleep. Only this night, the first time in over 5 months, I go to peek in on them and they are fast asleep without constant reminders. Very proud. Oh but wait, we now have a 9 month old infant who is teething. Constant whining, drooling, and beatboxing. Trying to rock him to sleep in the sofa chair but he is restless and wants to stand up on my legs and play. Eventually he falls asleep, soon to awaken again around 2am for a rematch. Mike’s turn.
And it’s finally here! The first day of the 2020-21 school year. All the kids wake up early without having to drag them out of bed. They are excited to wear their new custom shirts designed by mom. (Get yours by visiting the Yo! Mama Shoppe) The night before, I typically write on their chalkboard signs updating the grade they are going into. Next, time for morning photo shoots. We capture a couple of regular poses followed by one jump pose signifying their leap into the new grade. Now this year the first day started out a little different. Since school will be virtual, the school scheduled various times by grade level and last name on when the kids are to drive up to pick up their “distance learning kit” i.e. Textbooks, workbooks, folders, etc. It was pretty well organized aside from the fact that we had to drive around to the school 3 times since we have 3 kids in 3 diff grade levels. I thought I was being clever in getting to the school around 9:40 as Marshall’s time slot was 9:30-10 and Bubs’ time slot was 10. I was like “I can swoop both up at the same time”. Unfortunately the car line was so long, by the time we made it to the school driveway, it was 10:01 and they said Marshall’s teacher packed up already so I would have to park and go inside the building to grab his stuff. So I pull around to greet Bubs’ teacher and grab his bag then park, sweat, and hurriedly run into the building to grab Marshall’s bag. After returning home, we go through their drawstring bags and they contain reading textbooks, Math workbooks, worksheets and homework for the month of August, a folder for future “dropoff” of homework assignments to the school, and a couple of supplies like crayons and dry erase marker. There’s also parent info as well as reminders for Google Classroom etiquette to remember for the kiddos on how to not be disruptive and stay focused. Afterwards, I log back in to work to continue with my day until its time to head back to the school for Mariah’s kit. Once Mike returned from the school that round, we helped the kids get logged in and setup on all expected virtual accounts and familiar with using their devices. Immediately following, around 2pm, I’m in the kitchen and notice that my email is not loading when glancing at my phone. Bubs points out the time no longer displaying on the oven and says “when is the blackout going to be over. Look the power is out”. And sure enough, it was. Last week, Wi-f/cable/internet was out for an entire day for the whole town. Luckily, the power outage was short-lived today but we hope that it doesn’t happen while the kids are in session at virtual school. I wonder how will the teachers capture attendance then if that is to happen across town? Fingers crossed. Stay tuned for more Home Malone first week of school tales.
Y‘all be sweet,
Yo! Mama Mesh
