Yesterday, the first Monday of August, was circled in red on many moms' calendars across the heartland of America. What's the significance? In homes of high school football players, it's the start of "Double Days", where football practice amps up to fever pitch. With the advent of school on the horizon, helmets and pads are distributed and the real start of the season is at hand. Even though my Sophomore son has been playing football since 4th grade, I still wake up with a stomach ache on the first day of Double Days. I still cringe at the thought of some 250 pounder running full force at him with the intent to lay him out. And I still dread the havoc that Double Days wreak on our family life.
After a summer of family dinners, hours together in the pool, and eavesdropping on my boys' late night brotherly chats, Double Days signify the start of the "Schedule". It's like Moms and Dads need a boot camp too, to help them prepare for the craziness that lies ahead: homework, parent meetings, sport schedules, music lessons, scouts, and more. Around our home, we take a sabbatical from most organized activities during June and July. Double Days hurt all the more.
This year, I have wisely chosen to participate in a carpool for the glory of Double Days, which limits my time spent carting a sweaty teenager to and from the practice field. The planning of the carpool took a little finesse, but in the end it has turned out to be a blessing for my productivity. I normally eschew carpools, preferring to have complete "control" over driving my own kids – but this season I've let that go and learned that with a carpool in place I can actually have long stretches of work time and a family dinner cooked by the time Eric is dropped off after practice.
So parents, it's Double Days. Time to hone our scheduling skills, establish carpools for the year, and begin mapping out a navigable course through the madness that is the start of the school year. Let's use the next two weeks to get into shape to help our kids make this the best school year ever.
Home-work for Today:
- Anticipate your children's extracurricular activities for this year and start planning your survival strategy with friends. Carpools? Ride Swapping? Scheduling conflicts? Plan now before things get hectic on the school front.
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