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B16, who has been snarling a lot lately about his school workload, was in a good mood the other morning.

He was dressed in silky gym shorts and no shirt.  A fluffy Christmas blanket was draped around his shoulders as he fried eggs, over-easy, for himself.  His brother sat at the dining room table, school laptop open in front of him, engrossed in Garfield strips on GoComics.com as he ate cold cereal from a bowl.  His attire was identical to his brother's, but his blanket was black, a fake fur affair that is his constant companion.

"Y'know, Mom, I know I complain a lot, but there are a lot of things I like about being homeschooled," B16 told me.  "It's kinda cool that I can wear whatever I want."  He grinned down at his blanket and silky shorts.  "I can get up and make myself something to eat whenever I want."  He nodded at the skillet in front of him.  "And I can put on Christmas music while I study."  He gestured cheerfully toward the stereo, where his iPod rested, pushing Michael Buble's silky voice through the speakers.

"And I get to hang out with B12."  His eyes traveled across the kitchen and connected with his brother's.  "That's one of the best parts.  We joke around a lot.  And I can beat him up whenever I want."  He made punching motions at B12's head.  B12 didn't bat an eyelid, just kept his eyes glued to Garfield as he replied, deadpan, "Yeah, that's my favorite part too."

"It's a pretty good life, y'know?"  B16 summarized, picking up his plate.  He paused, fork in hand.  "Except for the school part.  Now if I just didn't have to worry about THAT...."

It's not the first time that B16 has told me that one of the best things, for him, about homeschooling again, has been reconnecting with his younger brother.  They really do have a good time together, and their laughter and joking around are contagious.  And hard to stop!  It becomes my unpleasant duty to constantly call them to FOCUS. Sometimes they have to separate, just to get anything done.

It even extends to Facebook, where they tease each other, and their sister, Blondechick, at college.  I give you the following interchange:

B16 posted on Blondechick's wall:
Mucho PU ablo?


Blondechick:
Okay so I have to admit, I just put that into google to see if it actually meant something and google asked me "Did you mean, Michel Pablo?" STOP you're just trying to mess with me with yer fake spanish words.


B16: 
Haha you got me. On a brighter note. "That fart smelled like the fart I farted a couple farts ago." The wise words of B12.


Blondechick:
Oh, how-I-miss-you-two.  Monotone, bro.


B12:   
Never art thou weak too strong as for the weak are the weak and the strong the strong. Some more wise words that won't do you any good.


B16:
Wise words, my friend!


Blondechick: 
Thanks B12, I'm proud to say you have officially become your father's son. Only Dad [linked to her father's wall] has that kind of humor.

So there you have the culprit.  My dear husband.

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It happens every year--the back-to-school blur of scheduling.  It's like putting a puzzle together.  How can I fit all the pieces together?  And my other driver just left for college!  What if Papa Rooster is traveling with his job?

At least B16 is taking his road test in about 4 weeks.  That introduces a whole new set of variables--and costs!  (Car insurance on a teenage male?  Astronomical!!)  But at least we'll have more options for fitting it all together.

I guess scheduling is on my mind because I just got a new planner.  Here's my life.

Mondays:

B16 and 12 have one virtual classroom session each.  I will plan to go to yoga this morning.

We need to have everything ready to leave for B12's and C9's piano lessons, then B12's soccer practice--the minute B6 and C9 get off the bus.  I may end up having to pick them up at school on Mondays, and B12 will probably be late to soccer every week.  But it was the one, best chance at squeezing in piano lessons!  Don't know what C9 and I will do after we drop off B12; we'll either return home for an hour, or do errands until we pick him up.

Tuesdays:

Guitar lesson first thing.  Three virtual lectures for the boys.  Late afternoon, I teach my Drama 1 class; then, for the next three weeks, Papa Rooster, B16 and I are going to choir practice!  We were invited to join a choral arts group for one performance of this incredible gospel mass.

Meanwhile C9 has soccer practice.  If the other soccer family can't bring her home, she'll have to miss it.  At least her team has two scheduled practices a week.

Meanwhile, B16 also has soccer practice.  If Papa Rooster is out of town, I don't know how we'll get him either to practice or to choir rehearsal.  But PR probably will avoid scheduling travel on Tuesdays.  He won't want to miss a rehearsal--that first tenor part is challenging!--and it's a lot of music left to learn in just three more weeks.

Wednesdays:

Three virtual sessions for the Bantams, and then B16's voice lesson mid-afternoon.  Then two soccer practices, staggered, fortunately, so I can drop off one, then the other, pick up one, then the other.  I'll save my errands to kill time in between.

(Still thinking about adding AWANA to this night--it's such a great program--maybe after soccer is over, if we can still join late.)

Thursdays:

Three more online sessions, two more soccer practices.  One is for B16, who is helping a friend coach her son's team, so she provides his ride both ways.  Phew!  I will drive the carpool both ways to C9's practice, in return for them driving her on Tuesdays.  Maybe Papa R and I can do Date Night during her practice?  We'll have an hour and a half, if he's in town.

Fridays:

Nothing!!  How did that happen?  This will be the one weeknight, until soccer is over, that we could actually all sit down together for dinner AT dinnertime.  Better make meal prep a priority on Fridays.

And it looks like time to pull out the crockpot and soup recipes for the other nights; all those soccer practices are between 5 and 7:30.  With C9 and B6's bus arriving after 4 and their bedtime at 8:00, it's going to be tough to get in homework and piano practice, let alone dinner.  I am grateful for B20, who is always home, so at least he can supervise if I'm not there.  That's one silver lining of him not having a job yet.

Weekends:

Looks like we have four soccer games every Saturday for the next six weeks, with a few scattered games on Sunday afternoons as well.  The Saturday games begin as early as 9 and will usually end at 4:30.  So it's the whole day.

I confess I don't plan on watching every game!  Papa R and I will hav

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Here they are, the gang, waiting for the bus on the first day of school.  It's the first time I've ever seen them sitting down when they are together!  Two first-graders and a kindergartener, who live next door and across the street.  They've spent their summer in the street--wearing out scooters, bikes, rollerblades and soccer balls.  It's not uncommon to see deserted scooters or bikes in any of our front yards, while the boys disappear into the back yard to hit the sandbox, swingset or ditch.  They play rough-and-tumble; they get into occasional spats and they work it out.  They are a good group.


Watching Chicklet and B6 get on the bus wasn't as hard for me as I thought it might be.  I'm happy for them!  I know they are going to have a good time at school.

And they did love it.  They are both motivated to "stay on green" or "keep their smiley face all day."  Chicklet was happy to be remembered by kids that she knew from her half-year in first grade.  I'll be interested to see how they fare academically, but I'm really not worried about them.  They are bright and delightful children, and I know they will have a good year.

The first two days at iQ Academy were easy for Bantam12 in 7th grade--it's old hat for him, since he did this last year--and nerve-wracking for B16, in 10th.  Everything took longer than he wanted it to, since it was all new to him, and he's second-guessing his decision already, just sure that this is going to be more time-consuming than his schedule would have been if he had gone to the private school. It was a struggle to stay calm while he was freaking out.  My big challenge for the next couple weeks will be to stay calm, supportive and helpful to him until he gets comfortable and confident on his own.

And what did I do on the first two days of school, besides assist the Bantams-at-home?  I uncovered the floor of my laundry room and vacuumed up all the sand.  (Sand happens when you live near a beach!)  I treated stains and laundered various delicate items that I've been saving up.  I spent a good hour putting away stray items that had gathered in my laundry room, living room and kitchen counters.  I sorted through the dress-up and changed its home. I brainstormed organization projects that I can't wait to start and bought storage drawer thingys at Walmart.

I discovered, deep down, a slew of pent-up organizing and cleaning impulses that I may, finally, have time and energy to act upon!

I think it's going to be a good school year.

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