First Day of School

There are times when you realize that your husband is not only completely different from you, but that he also passed on those genetics to most of the children as well. Around here we call it the "broken time gene". If a geneticist ever wants to study it, they're more than welcome to come to our house!

This morning I awoke at 6:40 to awaken the kids, only to find them all over the house and fully dressed. The front door was wide open, you could tell by the bikes/trikes/scooters/strollers that they had been busily playing outside, and they were asking if it was time to go to school yet.

Apparently my frequent lectures about "get to bed now!" were completely lost on them. They had stayed awake the entire night. Not unusual around here; in fact quite common during this past summer. But on a school night?!

Frustrated, I vented to Peter about their lack of discipline, unwillingness to follow directions and go to sleep when directed to, and so on. He just looked at me and said that he called it "cold turkey" and it really is the most effective way to adjust a schedule.

So I sent them on their merry way with a stern warning that they had better not fall asleep in class and there would be absolutely no naps when they came home. What a way to start a new school year.

They came home chipper and happen enough (45 minutes late, however, since I forgot that today was an early out day and my Blackberry isn't programmed for exceptions), got their chores done, and started dropping like flies by 5 PM. I spent the evening dragging kids out of bed and making them finish chores, help make dinner, eat dinner, etc.

We'll send them off to bed at 8:30 and see if maybe, just maybe, they might actually sleep while it's dark outside for the first time in several months.