Change is Good but it takes a while to adjust

Have I mentioned before that our schedule has changed recently?  Things changed with daycare and we opted to send our pre-schooler full time.  I wasn't a big fan of that but the more time passed, the more I thought it was a good decision.  Judah functions well with consistency so going to the same place during the week would help with that.  We also love and trust our kids' lives with our preschool teachers.  Not just during preschool, but during summer days, out-of-town trips, etc.  The older two kids were headed to school full time too.

The unknown was how we'd juggle their mornings and afternoons while we were at work.

They start their morning from the vet clinic and come home in the afternoon where I meet their bus.  Today was the first time the schedule actually worked out.  Aside from the bus arriving earlier than I thought, it went well.  Well, until my children got off the bus.  They were upset that they were the LAST ones off the bus.  It broke my heart!  I don't want the kids on the bus for an hour.  I don't want them picking up more bad habits and learning naughty phrases like "it scared the hell out of him".  I don't want older kids to laugh at them when one of them falls off the seat onto the floor.  I don't want them to be soaked in sweat from being on a warm bus.  But, that is where we're at right now.  And this first day experience with their first full day at school and riding the bus all the way home has this momma a little sad at the situation.

Does anyone in my community want to volunteer to be a bus monitor and ride along for that hour each day to keep the little kids' ears and eyes safe from the big kids habits and words?

After getting home, things didn't go perfectly as planned either.  I dreamed of this afternoon of a combination of Betty Crocker cooking and the best mom in the world.  They kids were hot, tired, hungry, and fussy.  Sounded like the perfect time to kick them outside to play in the sprinkler!  Gone were the visions of having lunch bags cleaned out, re-packed, supper cooked and dishes done when Ryan got home.  How could that not happen in the one hour I was home!?!?!?  While I'm technically only off work 30 minutes earlier, I'm leaving working one hour earlier and the kids are also home one hour earlier.

 I did succeed by not opening my laptop, had supper partially made, and had some pizza sauce and spaghetti sauce in the canner.  I'm looking forward to these extra hours at home with my kids.  If I get used to it, I might request an even earlier work schedule... that is until it's horrible winter weather and I'm having to drive to work on un-plowed roads.  But hey, in this 95+ degree weather with LOTS of humidity, I might actually be looking forward to the cold weather a tad bit :)