Back to School

Today I watched the back-to-school photos flood my Facebook feed as friends in Georgia began the new school year with their kids. I think the new school year is always a bittersweet milestone since it really highlights how much our kids are growing up. Those first-day-of-school photos serve as a visual reminder of what that child was like at that moment in time. When I think back to my childhood, I categorize important events based on what grade I was in at school. School was a big, big thing.

But here in The House of Twinsanity, I almost forgot that school was starting again.

Ok, not really.
I got all excited a few weeks ago when some new curriculum arrived in the mail. I set to work organizing everything and lining the books up neatly on our bookshelves. I used color-coded stickers to identify which books are for each grade level. (I'll have a 3rd grader, 2nd grader, and two kindergartners this year!)

I organized all of our school supplies and sorted our art supplies. I started labeling the bins that we used in the camper and brought them up to the closet in our school room. I spent an entire Saturday in OCD-mode with a labelmaker. No joke.
I even made new curtains for the school room/play room. (It's a really cute owl fabric but I didn't line them yet so it's hard to tell in the pictures.) I was feeling inspired and I wanted the kids to be even more excited about school starting.
I was eagerly awaiting the start of a new school year. Leila and Sarah are thrilled to be doing "real" school like their big brothers. (I guess all of the preschool learning was just "pretend"?) I was excited about a fresh start and was quite proud of how many things were ready and organized.

And then we got the news about moving.

And then I realized that Jason will be gone during this move. (Like almost every other move in the last 8 years!)

And then I realized that we'll be living in the camper for an extended period of time again.

And then I realized that all of my pretty labeled bins would be in a storage unit somewhere while our homeschooling books end up stuffed into a tiny cabinet in the camper.

But then today, a friend pointed me to my post about homeschooling in the midst of chaos.

And that's when I remembered that it doesn't matter where we learn. It doesn't matter if our pencils came out of an appropriately-labeled bin. It doesn't matter if all of our household goods are packed away and we're in the middle of a long distance move. What matters is that my kids love learning, I love teaching them, and we are going to make the best of whatever mess we end up in... literally!

So, here's to the start of another school year! Whether your kids are riding a bus, carpooling, or staying at home, I hope this is a great year for everyone!