How's September been for you?
Do your wheels feel squeaky? Or maybe your wheels feel like they just can't quite get on the track. Worse, perhaps your wheels feel that they are going way to fast down a hill a hill towards a cliff.
That's how September can feel for me some days.
August feels slow and lazy, the way I remember it did when I was a kid. August is like a bunch of Saturdays strung together. In August I took to putting in my headphones and listening to my favorite Avett Brothers songs while swinging in the backyard. Auto insurance, wrong decisions, and homeschooling fall away the closer I get to the clouds.
August is blissful, even with it's oppressive heat.
Sleeping late, savoring the last days that the pool is open, evenings at the park - all of it.
Looking back on September, now, though, it feels like a bunch of Mondays strung together.
September was a bunch of start and stops with a new schedule. There was a lot of unfinished checklists as we figured out what was actually humanly possible in a day versus what my recovering perfectionist mind told me we 'should' be doing. Parts of September involved me sitting in a stupor as I let my brain and body catch up.
September is when all the things I want to do collide with reality. September is the month that forces me to slow down.
I spent too much time debating which planners might be the most useful. I don't even want to talk about the printing mishap; the one in which I hit print without registering that there were 84 pages in the printable planner sample I found. WHO DOES THAT?
I read and re-read about unschooling. I bring home way too many books from the library. I attempt to be organized and on top of meals - yet resort to weekly spaghetti and taco nights.
We're in what's supposed to be the last hot spell of the season. It's been near 90 every day. The leaves piled up in corners of the yard are brown and ugly yet the grass is green and needs to be mowed every week. It's just as well, I suppose, because Spencer doesn't want to put his flip-flops away.
Actually, he lost his flip-flops.
This is the time of year that requires work to find our groove. I struggle to do the same things every day. I feel jealous of homeschoolers on Instagram who have Waldorf/Montessori children playing with wooden toys while classical music plays in the background. Here at the Shepherd Abode we're just trying to find spoons to eat breakfast with.
Spoons are a hot commodity around here.
Some days I love it all and some days...I just don't.
Such is life.
Now we're at the end. That's it. We're turning the corner into fall. Here in central Kentucky we'll be getting actual autumnal weather soon.
Why is that I always get it at the end?
This little heat wave we've been having is a perfect metaphor for my life. September felt like that heat was building up to something, I just didn't know what. Last night I took a walk at 7:30 and it was cool and see-through dark. I felt like I could fill my lungs again for the first time in weeks.
The pressure-cooker feeling was gone and in its place was a brand new season.
That's where I am, too, as are all of my people. My young adults are adulting away. My 13-year-old is on the verge of all the changes. My almost eight year old helps me see that everything is awesome. My hubby is settling into his new life. My parents make senior-citizening look easy, even with knee replacements and other difficulties. I'm doing okay, too, figuring this 40-something gig out.
I laugh a lot, but I cry when I need to.
September seems to be when my part of the world breathes a sigh of relief.
How can I not join in?
Whether you're homeschooling, life schooling, or just trying to make it to work every day with both pairs of shoes on - we've got this. We're all in it together. Let's sigh together as we turn the calendar page.
Be brave, misfits, and use pencil in your planners.
P.S.
I'm mailing out the Brave Newsletter this evening - make sure you're signed up so you can get the good stuff, too.
