Mette. Abe. Back to School.

Several days ago, after Jesse had somehow wronged Mette, she woefully said, “Jesse, I thought you were my best friend.”

When he didn’t respond in the affirmative, Abe, who had overheard the conversation, kindly chimed in with, “Jesse isn’t your best friend Mette, because I am!”

She apparently only found this comment patronizing, however, and, having no tolerance for such things, she yelled angrily, “No! Summer is my best friend!” And then, to make things perfectly clear as to Abe’s hopes of being befriended by anyone at all, she added (spitefully), “Abe, you will NEVER see a best friend at your school.”

That girl. She is not someone to be trifled with. (Also, I was a bit worried about her developing severe shoulder or back pain last week. I had told her that we were going to Bear Lake “in four days”. She immediately ran and packed her backpack with a million heavy and unnecessary items for the trip – and insisted on wearing it round the clock ‘til we finally left. It took great planning and stealth on my part to find any moment of time at all where I could remove all of the things she had packed [“Ah-hah! There’s that half full bottle of Hans’s that he set down three days ago and never found again!” Etc.] and replace them with the necessary clothing and blankets.)

Speaking of Abe (though leaving his best friend potential aside), the other night, after a lengthy homework assignment calculating water densities at various temperatures, he told me, “You know, I really like theoretical stuff in science, but not so much things like accurate measuring.” He thought a moment further and added, “Accurate measuring stifles the young scientist.” (He then grumbled something about following Mr. Cruff around to see if he always followed the significant digits rule.)

He does actually really enjoy learning, and it is fun to hear him talk about new concepts that fascinate him or exciting realizations as various things all suddenly connect and come together for him.

He’s also taken up the harmonica recently. Often, when he should be in bed, I will suddenly hear strains of How Great Thou Art or Sweet Hour of Prayer coming from his room. (And then, inevitably, Sweet Home Alabama. He can’t resist. I doubt he ever sets the harmonica down without a bit of that rousing tune to top things off.)

As for the rest of everything around here, we are in our third week of school. And, of course, I still haven’t adjusted to the change. (Goldie leaves earliest in the morning – which is why she is pictured alone in the back-to-school pics.)

There are things I really like about the school year – the routine, the feeling of productivity and accomplishment as we move with more purpose through the necessary demands of our days, the somewhat more likely chance of just a few minutes of time to think, read, or write when the little ones nap (and Summer plays nearby) (though that doesn’t always pan out), the more clear focus on my role as a homemaker and mother that seems to come with more determined movement through each day -- getting kids up and going, packing lunches, reading scriptures, seeing them out the door, helping them with homework, preparing them dinner, striving for a good bedtime, etc.

But, I do have so many kids, and there are so many schedules and needs that come with each of them accomplishing their daily tasks that it can definitely feel impossibly overwhelming at times. On Tuesday both Jesse and Anders brought home their first official homework requirements for each week. It was nothing too difficult, but they both still need me right there to walk them through each thing, and Anders’ stuff, while fairly simple, was scattered into a million small things (pass these words off and return signed each time you do, read these four books three times each week, log this many minutes of math time and record here, practice these spelling words, keep track of this on this sheet, finish these worksheets and turn in on Monday) that, for a minute, I actually almost began to cry!

But, I know that is typically how I feel when things are unfamiliar and need to become routine still. And they do become routine. As I’ve said before, by Halloween, it seems that I always realize I’ve slipped, almost unawares, into our new way of existing, and the requirements for each of my kids and their schoolwork and schedules are all clear in my head again. And of course, there are a million exciting things all tied in with the start of the school year too – leaves changing, a million peach stands springing up, orange lights and pumpkins right around the corner. . . .

So, we shall continue forging ahead – working out our new routines and looking forward to the many good things we will experience as we do.