Back to school 2013 - Rage Against The Minivan

Confession: I took these pictures a few days before the first day of school. Every year I see mothers posting these cute pictures of their kids marking what grade they are in, and every year I think I want to do this myself and fail. I fail because I fail at mornings in general, but also because the first day of school is always so generally hectic and a shock to our lazy summer system. So this year, I decided I would capture a photo of them on a day we had nothing going on. I put them all in their back-to-school outfits (thank you Tea Collection) and made them pose for pictures, and then promptly made them change again. Then I folded their outfits neatly into a bag that I set aside for safe-keeping so they would be nice and new and ready for the first day. And then last night I realized I’d forgotten where I put that bag. About thirty minutes of tearing the house apart later, and the outfits were found.

It’s close enough, right? It’s the thought that counts . . . or something. I just cannot handle the thought of photographing all four children before school.

I cannot believe Jafta is going to be in 3rd grade. That just seems so big to me! Like, halfway to middle school. Sob.

The girls are doing this new thing when I take their picture . . . they pretend they are high fashion models or something. So natural! I don’t really know the thinking behind this. What I do know is that out of about 20 pictures of the two of them, this is this only one where they don’t look totally angry or annoyed.

I decided to try having the twins in the same class this year. I’ll report back and let you know how it goes.

The first day of school is always bittersweet. It was hard trying to continue my work schedule with all the kids home, so I’m looking forward to getting a bit of structure back. But I also really enjoyed having them home all day. As usual, it feels like it went so fast.

The older three kids are all starting at the same school this year, thankfully. Jafta got a transfer to the charter school mid-year last year. Karis still has another year at the Montessori, and then next year I’ll have all four at one school – what a glorious day it will be!

No pinterest-worthy special back-to-school themed dinner at the Howerton hous last night. We watched Camp Rock while I combed out the dreadlocks summer had formed. We applied ketchup to remove the green pool hair. We put them to bed while it was still light out and threatened them with consequences if they did not sleep. And finally, we collapsed on the couch in exhaustion because HOLY CRAP this was a long summer with two working parents and no childcare. Happy back-to-school, kids. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

Wardrobe c/o Tea Collection, shoes c/o Etnies.