Family Friday- Back to School

***Did you see my guest post here yesterday?***

I don’t know about you but I find myself wondering- where did summer go?  And as I printed off their respective school supply lists yesterday, the reality of saying goodbye to sleeping in, spending the day with my boys and finding fun things to keep us occupied made me sad.  Then I remembered how often I have been ready to strangle them for bickering, how much I get accomplished when they are at school and somehow, I’m feeling a little better about things.

As with most things in our family we have a routine for the school year.  And, we also have traditions related to getting ready for back to school.  We go back to school shopping when we are at my grandparent’s house because they live near a great outlet mall.  We have an end of summer dinner, complete with cake and ice cream the weekend before school starts to send off summer with a “bang” and herald in a new year of watching the boys grow and change.  They get a new backpack each year (thankfully we have finally talked Matt out of Star Wars since he started middle school).

The week before school starts (which is next week for our family) we will pack the backpacks, separate the school clothes from the play clothes (yes, I am that mom) and start our bedtime/wake-up routines.  It is funny that as they grow (Jason is a *gasp* junior in high school this year, Jared is going into 8th grade and Matt into 7th) they are still just as attached to these routines as they were when they were in early elementary school.  We have found ways to adapt the traditions for Jason with him being away.

I look at them now, boys turning into young men, and wonder what our family traditions will look like in a few years?  When is the last year I will bake the end of summer cake?  The last year it will be cool to go shopping at Old Navy and Aeropostale outlets with your mama?  Oh, do those thoughts hurt anyone else’s heart as much as they hurt mine?

But, for now, instead of dwelling on the (painful) reality of the future I am going to enjoy every back to school moment with my sweet, yet often smelly boys.  Join us for more Family Friday posts at Homemaker Barbi.