The new normalSchool started a few weeks ago, and I haven’t stopped moving since then. I was completely blindsided by the time and energy required to parent an elementary schooler. Lunches to make, forms to sign, alarm clocks to set.

During the first couple of weeks, when friends asked how I was doing, I shared that I was struggling with the hectic pace. These experienced mommas looked at me soberly and offered, “It doesn’t get better.”

Well, that was not the comfort I sought. Instead of sympathy, these friends offered me truth, which in the long run is infinitely more valuable. Even if it stings a bit right now.

So I’m looking at our schedule as the new normal and deciding how to cope. What can I take out of our schedule? What can I delegate? Are there expectations I need to surrender?

In some ways, I feel like a parent of a newborn again, struggling to keep swimming as circumstances change the moment I adjust. I’ll be honest, guys — right now coping looks a lot like procrastinating and eating way too much sugar. For now I’m trying to be gentle with myself and my family as we learn to navigate these new waters. I’m sure we’ll figure out how to sail eventually (just in time for the wind to change).