Duchess walks herself home from school every day now, and is home alone for 90 minutes or so. While this is in line with the Surgeon General's Call to Action, what it really gets us is a lot of time. Duchess has time to walk home (often walking most of the way in the company of O Blond, likely being loud and ridiculous the whole time), unpack and put away her stuff, practice flute (fifth-grade band!), do her homework (every night!), AND read or listen to podcasts or play Minecraft for quite a while before I get home. It's luxurious. No more evening scramble to finish stuff, no whining about not having enough time to read, chores getting done without complaint. Fabulous.
Unfortunately, Skipper is not allowed to walk herself home yet, so she goes to aftercare at 2:15 and gets home around 6, which leaves her a scant two hours before bedtime to unpack, repack, eat dinner, do her homework,* and practice piano. Not to mention any extra time to read or play alone or with Duchess. So she's feeling, understandably, pretty jealous of Duchess. The poor kid needs her downtime, and she's not getting it. I'm not sure how we're going to get it for her.
Also, as Duchess prepares for a 48-hour camping adventure (the packing list for which included army surplus woolen pants, large and terrifying knives, fingerless wool gloves, and sharpening tools for the aforementioned large and terrifying knives), I must remember that it will make her a better person.
* Skipper's school is not messing around. She has Japanese homework three times a week, due the day after it's assigned, and a packet of English homework assigned once a week, due the following week. I can't remember how much homework Duchess had in first grade, but there was definitely a lot less of it. And this is the first year of Duchess's entire school career that she has EVER had to return homework more often than once a week.
Unfortunately, Skipper is not allowed to walk herself home yet, so she goes to aftercare at 2:15 and gets home around 6, which leaves her a scant two hours before bedtime to unpack, repack, eat dinner, do her homework,* and practice piano. Not to mention any extra time to read or play alone or with Duchess. So she's feeling, understandably, pretty jealous of Duchess. The poor kid needs her downtime, and she's not getting it. I'm not sure how we're going to get it for her.
Also, as Duchess prepares for a 48-hour camping adventure (the packing list for which included army surplus woolen pants, large and terrifying knives, fingerless wool gloves, and sharpening tools for the aforementioned large and terrifying knives), I must remember that it will make her a better person.
* Skipper's school is not messing around. She has Japanese homework three times a week, due the day after it's assigned, and a packet of English homework assigned once a week, due the following week. I can't remember how much homework Duchess had in first grade, but there was definitely a lot less of it. And this is the first year of Duchess's entire school career that she has EVER had to return homework more often than once a week.
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