Today was Jude’s first day of kindergarten. There were tears on my end last night as I searched through old albums and came across pictures of Jude when he was a baby and a toddler…its like I’m a glutton for punishment or something. I keep saying it, but time goes by so fast. Ask any mama, any age. One moment, we are taking our babes home from the hospital, the next we are packing them a school lunch in their super cool dinosaur lunch box and watching them walk into their brand new classroom without even thinking twice or looking back at you to see if you’re still there. I feel like I didn’t get enough time with him. Like I didn’t appreciate the small moments enough. Maybe it’s just that I know that this is the first step in letting go and it scares me half to death. Yet another thing I wasn’t prepared for when becoming a mom. But I digress…
Jude now being at school means I have extra time with my girls, particularly Ev. It’s always been me and Jude. Then me and Jude and Everly. Then me and Jude and Everly and Isla. But with Jude being at school and Isla still taking several longer naps a day, Ev and I have some new opportunities for really special one on one time together
I’ve never been one for routine. You’re talking to the girl that has to take a different way home every day because I don’t want to look at the same scenery more than once a day and who has always struggled with normalcy. However, being a mom, routine is critical to successful parenting, in my opinion anyway. Kids thrive on routine and knowing what to expect. It makes them feel secure…and for that reason, I am trying so hard to develop a reasonable routine for my family. Particularly, a morning routine. So much of the day can be wasted on getting a late start to the morning and wasting time on tv and social media while we allow ourselves to “wake up”. Jude now being in school is going to force us to have an early start to our day and once we drop him off, allow us girls some fun time together.
One particular item I’d like to add to our morning schedule after breakfast is a gardening, more specifically watering. Ev is 2 and at that independent age where she wants to do everything on her own and have her own little jobs to do. Now, I’ve never had a green thumb…I kill every green thing in my path despite my best efforts, but for the first time EVER, I have managed to keep a few potted plants alive. Currently growing: serrano peppers, thyme, parsley, chives, aloe vera, song of India, fiddle fig leaf and lettuce (which I regrew from a head of lettuce that I bought at Costco). My garden is pretty random, as am I, but its alive and that’s all I care about! Guess who loves to help water my plants? Little Miss Everly. Over the next several weeks my hope is to buy some small terracotta pots and plant a few more herbs with Ev. And part of our morning routine will be to water our little green babies together, just me and her.
Adventures With My Tribe 