Getting started...

It's that time again.  Our facebook feeds are filled with grinning children next to the front door as they prepare to begin the school year. The school supply aisles are filled with those of us who refused to believe that the start was quite so close. And as a teacher, my world also undergoes a large shift with the return to work.

But this year, the shift is smaller.  Last spring, our family decided that I would return to work only halftime.  Yes, it's quite a pay and benefits cut, but we are hoping that the shift brings more of that all-important balance to our home. The boys will be at two different schools again, my husband's work load has grown by large amounts, and we will now have two children involved in activities, rather than just one.  With me home in the afternoons, the little one has a much shorter school day, we don't have to arrange after-school care or create a crazy pick-up schedule, and trying to fit in a healthy dinner feels so much simpler.

One week in, and I'm already feeling the benefits of the lighter load.  I still have time to hang laundry on the line in afternoons.  An errand or two can be run before we pick the oldest one up from school. I even got to sit and paint with the little one - at 2:00! And while the weather is still nice, we can even have a popcorn and reading picnic on the lawn without having to wait until the weekend to do it.

The goal?  To feel like we are living the life we want seven days a week - not just two. And with this move?  We're a whole lot closer.  Getting started has never been easier...