Back to school

One thing I have had to learn early on is that the train doesn't stop just because of our grief.  Bills have to be paid, chores have to be done, and the grass has to be mown.  Back to school for the kids came

Our school district started the school year the Tuesday after the funeral which turned out to be a blessing.  The activity of getting the kids ready keeps me from dwelling on my grief.  "Meet the teacher" night was the same time as the visitation at the funeral home, so the week before during the funeral planning, the school had let us in to meet Clint and Laura's teachers.   The school had taken care of ordering the kids school supplies.

I rode bikes with Clint and Laura to the school so that Laura could learn the route. Clint and I had to go get allergy shots on Monday.  Lunches had to be packed, and bedtimes had to be returned to normal.  All this activity and near normalcy seems to be best for me and the kids.

Laura is entering 5th grade this year and will be attending school with Clint who is starting 6th.  Patrick is moving up to 2nd at the same school in our neighborhood. James and Andrew are in the Spanish preschool on Tuesday's and Thursday's.  So this is the first year that all the kids are in school at least part time.  Tuesday morning, I shuttled all the kids to school and dropped them off, Clint and Laura first, Patrick second, and James and Andrew last.

After we had survived the first day of school Jim and Mari returned to Kansas on Wednesday.  At this point I was on my own.  A single dad with five kids, how am I going to make it?  By taking each day as it comes, by dealing with problems one at a time, by leaning on the support of friends and family, by depending on God's grace.  That's how.

At some point this past summer, Clint had told me that almost all 6th graders had cell phones these days.  I of course responded that I didn't care what other parents bought their kids, Sarah and I would decide when he was mature enough for a phone.  Given the fact that I would be stretched more than I had in the past, I decided to buy Clint and Laura basic phones (which had been top of the line models almost 10 years ago) and programmed in all the important phone numbers of each other, grandparents, and neighbors.

With the first week of school ending and the first weekend by ourselves approaching I wanted to plan something for the kids to have fun. I had driven by the indoor skydiving company a few times on my way to work, and I thought the kids would enjoy it.  I signed up the older three kids for their flights,

They had a great time, and our lives were starting to adjust to our new normal.