Schedules and Unicorns

School finally started, aka work. Without my central job, school seemed like it would be easier, but in reality my central job is filled with kids and teaching is still hard to keep up with. Don't get me wrong, I love teaching. Despite the fact most Americans seem to think teachers are lazy assholes and want to pay us as little as possible to work like 50 hours or more a week, I really love teaching. I am good at my subject and I enjoy it. All teaching requires is passing on the love for a subject that I already have. None-the-less the schedule part of my life is hectic.

A friend today said the schedule is something we are always chasing like the lottery or a unicorn, but maybe getting on a regular schedule just doesn't really exist. Hmmm. That hadn't occurred to me before. I thought once we adjusted to school starting the family could get into a routine, but 2 weeks in we couldn't be further off anything resembling a routine.

I know this much:
1. I have got to get Cletus back on a meaningful pre-school routine. He needs to learn and he likes it. I don't want him to get behind because I can't balance my new life.
2. DC needs more tummy time. Period. She hates it, but she needs it. 
3. I need to get better at prepping my classes. This is part of the reason things still aren't balanced yet.
4. I HATE CHORES. I HATE DOING THE DISHES AND LAUNDRY AND KEEPING UP WITH THE HOUSE. I ALSO HATE THE EXPECTATION THAT I DO SO.
5. I need to learn to juggle: DC's needs, Cletus' needs, school needs, house needs, personal time needs, & spouse needs.

I am still hoping that routines aren't unicorns. Week 3. This is the beginning of our routine.

Day 1 of Stay-At-Home Bear in the Books

And the race is off. Except there is no finish line in sight. And if I was really running it would be more like a swiftish walk.

The point is that the stay-at-home bear thing is really happening. And in a way even I didn't see coming, the university I work at screwed me a bit and now I only have 1 class instead of two. Can we say tighten that financial belt? I thought it was tight before, but now only oxygen shall get through.

Yesterday was the 1st day of the next 6 years of my life. If we continue to stay in Cali, there's no way we can both afford to work full-time. Preschool is a million dollars.

Given that I know virtually zilch about preschool and babies naturally, I decided to research my kids. The GB is a research nerd 1st and everything else 2nd. So I invested some research time by reading the actual baby books we already own and watching a day of Super Nanny. The results were interesting. The 1st result was a better sense of order and discipline in the house. I am in favor of both because I will be here all day. The 2nd result was fighting with Sun & Moon who did not seem to know where this new discipline came from which is ironic because I got the idea from her.

I have also developed a lesson plan for Cletus and DC based on what they should be learning at their age. I figure we will just repetitively do these things until they  master the skill and then we will move on to new things. For Cletus, everyday we will sing songs, read books, learn about 1 animal, and learn to help/do chores. After that there's a bunch of things we can add but they won't necessarily be daily: playing pretend, stacking, colors, music, shapes, art, motor skills (tumbling), going to the park. For DC, now 3 months, we have talking to her, standing on my hands, tummy time, & holding a rattle or ring. The 1st priority for DC is getting on a schedule so she sleeps better.

I am quite pleased with my nerdiness. I will work on Cletus' lesson plan because I want him ready for kindergarten when the time comes. Also, he will work on following directions as a new part of the house discipline. Super Nanny was really helpful when it came to the time out process and how to make it work effectively.

As far as day 1 went, it was great until 10 minutes before Sun & Moon got home. Right when it was time to show off my hard work and skill development, the house just seemed to explode with chaos. She walked in the door just in time to have no confidence that the day went well. :-( Hopefully, Day 2 will end better.

Crawling!

Cletus has finally crawled on all fours. We were at the park and he got up on hands and knees and crawled fo reelz. Now we can't get him to do it again. It's my belief the little turd didn't want the grass touching his tummy so that's why he crawled at the park and won't at home. Needless to say, we haven't seen a repeat performance since the day at the park (July 3). We know he can, but getting him to is a whole other deal.