October thoroughly kicked my ass. The only thing standing between me and the holidays is the month of November. I want to make sure I don’t feel quite so run over at the end of November. Here are some of my goals for this month.
Calendar
I usually do the calendar the week of Thanksgiving, and that is the plan this year. But last year I was good about curating the photos I hoped to use throughout the year. This year I did NOT do that. We also went on way fewer trips this year, so there aren’t obvious weeks or weekends to go back to to find photos. I want to spend some time on Veterans Day going through the thousands of photos on my phone to find some good ones for the calendar, so that I can get it done the week of Thanksgiving. The calendar gets harder as my kids get older, and I think this year it’s going to be really hard.
Reconnect with the husband
The husband and I have not really reconnected since his mid-October trip. It’s honestly been kind of lonely. I hope we can spend some time together this month. I’m going to ask my parents to take the kids after Thanksgiving so we can spend a night or two together. I hope we can plan one other thing before that too.
Make some family memories
We don’t have any trips planned as a family this school year, and it’s hard not to have anything to look forward to. It’s also hard to look back on the weeks and feel like nothing really happened. Next weekend I don’t have to teach Teens at the dojo, so I’m planning on missing all my Saturday classes so we can do something as a family. My current plan is a hike in the Marin Headlands, since early November usually provides nice weather. I hope to plan one other memorable event in November, maybe the week of Thanksgiving, when the kids and are I off.
Christmas Decorations
When Thanksgiving is as late as it is this year, I like to start putting up the Christmas decorations right before turkey day. The 15yo and I really love Christmas decorations, and it’s nice to have them up so long that we’re not that sad to take them down before New Years. It’s also nice to have all that time to get them up, with the kids home and the husband at work. It’s a great way to fill those lazy days.
Wrap up the first trimester
Our first trimester ends on November 14, and grades are due the Friday before the Thanksgiving Break. All four 7th and 8th grade classes are turning in Reading Responses this week and the 1A classes are taking an assessment. I’m good about keeping my grade books up to date, so I just need to score a bunch of stuff and add comments to close out the first grading period. I can’t believe we’re almost one third done with the school year.
These are some good goals (hopes). I do know what you mean about time passing and feeling like nothing really happened. My daughter has a lot of school activities going on, so she’s busy- but we don’t do many “adventures.” I like the idea of doing smaller activities that would still be memorable. Offhand I can’t think of what that would be for us, as a family. Maybe I’ll do some on my own.
We just came out of a busy activity time with the 12yo’s baseball season and the 15yo interviewing for this internship. The next two months should be a lot “quieter” on the activity front, and I’m hoping we take advantage of that to spend more quality, MEMORABLE, time together.
Our mp1 ends this week, aaaahhhh. Needless to say, some grade grabbing emails that I personally hate. “But I need a C!” I, sorry but if you needed a C you could have gotten it. I, mean but I cannot deal with pretty pleases. Needless to say, those are rare but they drive me crazy.
I would not handle those kinds of requests very well. At least you aren’t teaching much this week! You guys get so many more random days off during the year than we do. What are your start and end dates? I’m wondering if you have a shorter summer than we have. (I would personally prefer more random days off and a shorter summer).
Good luck getting your grading done. The Marin Headlands sounds like a fun idea, and I hope it works out for your parents to take the kids and give you a chance to reconnect and catch your breath a little.
I am excited about the headlands! I can’t remember the last time we went over there. And if the 15yo gets that internship in Sausalito I will not be wanting to cross the GG Bridge for fun stuff for a while. 😉
a couples trip sounds perfect. I feel like we need an overnight too! I hope you can get one scheduled – over Tgiving sounds like it would be perfect. Lots of kid focused time in there two so you get both.
Yeah, I really hope we can make it happen. We usually get together with my in-laws on the weekend after Thanksgiving (they graciously concede actual Thanksgiving day to my parents), but they are in Mexico City with their daughter that week this year, so we can do what we want that weekend. I want to take advantage of that too!
Sounds like a pleasant month with great ideas to focus on!
This is a busy time of year, but I love that you’re going to be intentional about it… days and weeks sometimes can slip by!