Stop talking about it and do it.

After twelve months of talking about what we do in Japan, we're finally back doing it! It is good.

Today David officially began work again at CAJ (Christian Academy in Japan). For today that meant he left home at 7.30 and got back after 5pm.

When my boys were smaller, I used to say that for me, that first day after holidays was the worst. After that the household settled down, back into our usual routine.

It has been more than twelve months since David has worked regularly out of the home. In that time most of his "work" was done with us all together on a weekend or during school hours. Only a handful of times was he away the whole day and twice he was away for several days, but other than that he's been around most of the time. It has been a good year. We've shared most things - parenting, housework, enforcing homework, taking the boys to and from school, swimming etc. And lots of morning teas and lunches were shared too! We worked together, played together and travelled together.

I paid part of the price of all that today. The boys seemed to need me to lay down all the boundaries again. To prove themselves against me and just check that I stood solid on my own. We've had so many time-outs today I've lost count. So while it hasn't been as physically exhausting a day as yesterday was (the temperature was down a few degrees too), I am emotionally a bit drained. I just hope that they settle down tomorrow. Did I mention I cannot wait until school starts?