A hectic day

The second half of September is always a little bit hectic in our house. It never looks like it will, but then when you factor in two birthdays and a wedding anniversary to the usual daily life activities, we soon end up struggling to stay ahead.

Additionally CAJ has a "Back to School" day. Now I'm told that Americans will know what this means, but I'm not so sure about Aussies. It is basically a Parents' Day or an Open Day without the students. When parents are welcomed onto campus and sit in their kid/s' classes and find out who is teaching their kids, timetables, expectations etc. For me it has been a 10-3.30 day. Elementary was 10-12, middle and high school 1-3.30 and high school has after school meetings too. 

A great day to see lots of people, get informed and hopefully one that helps you get informed, so that you know what's going to be expected from your kids. This is especially helpful for parents of boys, who, typically know less of what is going on at school than the parents of girls, I've observed.

So, today I've had all sorts of encounters. Parents who've thanked me for inviting their kids to our son's birthday party back in May, a new/old student who was at the school about four years ago, a number of new families–including a family who hosted our son at a sleepover a few weeks ago (who I'd not even met!). I met mission colleagues, teachers of my kids and parents of students that my husband teaches. And I even got in some impromptu public speaking. This year I'm co-coordinating the prayer group that meets for seventh grade (each year level has their own monthly prayer group). So I got up in front of all the seventh grade parents and invited them to come. Phew. 

On top of that I've done two bike trips for groceries. Now I'm pretty done in, but the day isn't over yet.

I did want to show you the cake that eventuated for yesterday. I mean eventuated, because I baked it earlier in the week and iced it yesterday afternoon, but our son and his younger (6 y.o.) brother decorated it themselves before dinner last night. This is how it turned out. The boys loved it. I think it turned out well, and it didn't even take much time!

I'm pretty proud of my middle school son. He wasn't allowed on campus all afternoon, while us parents were getting up to speed (the elementary students had free child care). He'd been planning to go to McDonalds for lunch with friends, but that fell through, so he came home by himself and made himself lunch. I see (internet History) that he also took the opportunity to work on his typing skills without me suggesting it. He is maturing, and I'm so happy!

Now I need to dash over the road to observe my two younger sons at swimming until 5pm. It's been a while since I have seen them and they are claiming much better swimming abilities than I think they have, so I want to see with my own eyes.

See you tomorrow!