It is Thursday of the first week of school and we have made it this far. My 6 year old is getting more tired every day. It has been a challenge to get them to bed on time and up in the morning. The anticipation and excitement of seeing there friends is warring with the worries about new teachers, homework and routines. Soccer starts tonight, too. Next week, swimming and Brownies start…and the story goes on.

As we settle into the routines of the school year, I long for the relaxed pace of summer. At the same time, I love the regular schedules and knowing what is happening every day. As a working mom, getting my kids to and from all the places they need to go can be a challenge but it is a predictable one that I am grateful for.

We work hard to not overschedule our kids with too many after-school activities, but it is hard. There are so many things they are interested in. So many things I would love for them to learn. So many wonderful programs I learn about from owning North Texas Kids, so many great teachers and business owners.

We have promised ourselves, my husband and I, to make sure our children have the time to play, to just be kids, to have unstructured time to run wild in the yard, to swim in the pool for as long as they can. Kids thrive on that kind of freedom. As they get older, they will settle into the classes they are most interested in or the sports they are passionate about, but for now, playtime is what they need. And yes, we have to schedule that too or they would spend too many days just sitting at our office while mom and dad work.

The biggest challenge is that school and kids and work are a balancing act hanging over either end of ten foot pole as we walk across a tight rope. Some days we dip to the left, some to the right, but hopefully we make it through the school years without falling off.

What are your challenges this week?