Lessons learned the first week of school

So, we all started or returned back to school last Monday. Jax started PreSchool, which he reminds us often -- "prestool, Mama, it's Pre-Stooool!" Joy started daycare. And, I returned to the classroom to teach tomorrow's future leaders everything Psychology, even though it is a well-known fact that they already know everything about everything.
We completed the week, barely sane, and in the chaos, I even managed to learn a few things in the process. Hence, lessons learned the first week of school:

1. It takes forever to drop off two children, even when their classrooms are located very close to each other. Get this one out, get that one out, get this bag, get that bag, redirect the mobile one that has run off into the parking lot; get his blankie, get her blankie, instruct both to not drop, drag, or step on blankies; hold on for dear life to all gear and pick up blankies off the ground, and try to brush dirt off with no available hands; get his cup, her bottles, sugar for him, sugar for her, then pick up everything that I just dumped out of bags on my shoulder as I bent down for good-byes; yep, now i'm the one causing all the other parents to shift from drive to reverse, and back and forth, as they try to weasel out of the drop-off line.
2. Do not stop to get gas in the mornings. Because, inevitably, someone will decide that it is time to pee and cannot wait any longer, no matter how much I beg or complain about how long it takes to strap and unstrap children in the carseats, muchless lugging said children into public restrooms and still managing to balance all of my hang-ups about touching stuff in a public restroom. ugh. #1 applies here again.
3. Playgrounds with bark-looking stuff are much, much better than playgrounds with sand. I am happy to report that we no longer have a sand pile in the floorboard of my car each afternoon. Yay.
4. Kids will do stuff at school, even when the parent who has spent the most time, not to mention the entire summer, with him/her says that he/she can't do some particular task yet. examples: She doesn't drink juice. He doesn't like academic stuff. She doesn't really crawl. He doesn't write letters well. She doesn't like a sippy cup. He doesn't eat anything. Yep, they tried their best to make a liar out of me this week. The list could go on...
5. There is no "run in real quick" anymore. No, I do not want to stop by anywhere and pick up anything for you, darling husband. I am tired... and I just do not desire to re-live that nightmare from #1 (or #2) again just because it would be nice for you to have some WD-40 for your deer stand. Or whatever. It's gonna have to be something real good to get me to stop anywhere "real quick"... like, um.... blue lights. ha. And, not yours, so don't even go that route.
6. Bye-Bye to "time to think and get my thoughts together" on the way to and from work, a 30 minute drive. Now, I listen to Jax's constant questions followed by his own answers, I guess because it takes me more than a quarter of a second to answer. On top of that I listen to random crying/whining from Joy, who still has to face backwards in her car seat, and just cannot understand that the car is not the best place for a game of Pick-Up with her favorite, must-have-all-the-time blankie. When blankie falls, no one can reach it to return it, no matter how much she fusses. Not beautiful music, but yet priceless times.
7. It is better to have blankie nearby at all times rather than having a clean blankie nearby only sometimes. Washing is not a fun time.
8. "I go where ever you go," says blankie. And, if you forget, you will get phone calls from teacher. and ten minutes between classes is plenty of time to book it over to drop off a blankie and save the day in the process. Yay, so it is still easy to be a hero from time to time.
9. The cafeteria food must not be bad, because no one ever remembers what they ate. But Jax always remembers what his friends ate. "I didn't eat the peaches, MaMa. But my friends ate the peaches AND the broccoli. But not me, I didn't eat the peaches or the broccoli, Mama." And, Joy, what did you eat? Hhhhm, that's what I thought.
10. Even Math Majors agree that there are NOT ENOUGH hours in the day, no matter how good you are at planning, budgeting, and organizing time. Sad, but true. The anal superego within me is starting to settle with this as fact, and my house, car, and office reflect this revelation with one glance. Oh well. I wouldn't trade any of it for anything in this world. I may be crazy, but I like my chaotic life.

Stay tuned for more after Week 2.... :-D