Adulting isn’t a dictionary word yet but even Merriam-Webster is watching it to see if it makes it into the official dictionary. And I’m fond of the gerund “adulting” as in, “Adulting is hard.” Since Brooks has been back to school these last two weeks I’ve been thinking about how much I love the start of a new school year, and for me it’s a fresh start on all my “adult” responsibilities.
Stephanie and I are more excited than she is for her new school year. I miss all the new school year fun I used to have. I long for the fresh start: new schedule, new teacher, new outfit, new shoes, new paper, new pens, new people, and reconnecting with everyone I didn’t see over the summer.
I actually love all new starts: New Year, birthday, new seasons, winter solstice, summer solstice, first day of school, last day of school/first day of summer, all of those markers of something new. I even get excited about new quarters. My goals, my hopes, my bad habits, all get a fresh start.
A few weeks into last year I started passing granola bars from the front seat to the backseat. This year we started off fresh with Stephanie making healthy, homemade breakfasts Sunday evening that we then had every morning. We got a fresh start on raingear and laundry, an organized drop zone. At Brooks’s school they’ve re-painted the hall, organized the classroom, and even the lost and found basket is empty. We all get a fresh start.
Every day I’m juggling priorities, lists, and needs with how much sleep is needed to get through it all again. And the mundane tasks can be so wearing. That said, I always wish I could be a better version of myself. I wish I could be a little earlier, a little more prepared, a little more on top of it all, a little more patient. Any marker of a fresh start gives me a little zip of a clean slate. Here I have a chance to really stick to an after kid bedtime routine so our mornings are smooth. I can fine-tune a new client presentation, I can get up twenty minutes earlier. I can track my goals in some new and better way. Thankfully, there are so many new starts/fresh beginnings to give me a new start over and over within a year.
I hope your school year or whatever new start you are celebrating is off to a great start and that all your goals carry you through! Happy Adulting!
