Tots and Me... Growing Up Together: Back to Homeschool Blog Hop-Day 5: The Hubby's Take on Traditions

I needed the hubby's help to get our internet working the other morning. While he was sitting there, after getting the internet going again, I noticed he was "writing" my "First Day of School Traditions" post. I had not planned to share what he wrote, however, after sharing it with my fellow crew mates, I had a change of heart. Not only did this make me laugh, it was hugely approved of by the other crew members who read it. They insisted that I share what he wrote, so I decided to devote the last post of the week to his take on our traditions.

Read at your own risk.

The Hubby's Take on Traditions

(The following was written by my husband; however, it was written as if I was writing it.)

I love traditions, don't you? We have lots of traditions for our first day of home school each year.

First, Hubby comes home from work. It never seems to fail. Our first day of school seems to always fall on the Monday after he works. I do it to him on purpose. Actually, we tend to schedule it for the Monday after the Bills first home preseason game, but don't tell him that.

The kids all get dressed in a new outfit which they have picked out earlier in the summer. This is something they really look forward to as usually we dress them in rags and burlap sacks.
Then, Daddy gets them all excited for their first day of school and drags them out of the house to go out for breakfast. Sometimes he even lets them eat breakfast with him if the mood strikes him just right. The kids sure do like McDonald's. It must be the cocaine in the food. I won't say they are addicted, but they've been looking forward to the first day of school breakfast since BEFORE WE LEFT THE PARKING LOT LAST TIME! Give me a break...OH, and can I have a Bacon, egg, and cheese Bagel this year???

While they are out, I make a huge banner that says "Welcome to our Homeschool" or words to that effect. Harold used to help me decorate it (scribble scribble) but I think this year he's going to be out with Daddy as well so I'm stuck doing all the work.

I also enlist the hubby for help blowing up the 27,000 balloons that I plan on using to decorate. I line the entire driveway with them so that I can get an early warning when they come home and have time to lock the door and pretend I'm not home. I also fill the ENTIRE DOWNSTAIRS with balloons. Forget oxygen. If there's any oxygen left in the downstairs, then there's room for more balloons. One year, I tried this with Helium filled balloons and Daddy came home to a house floating 6 inches off the foundation. Since then we use traditional balloons and daddy just blows them all up instead of sleeping before he goes into work. Who needs sleep anyway?

I also get the kids new pencils, pens, crayons, colored pencils and all that other stuff. That's not so amazing, but what is amazing is that they manage to lose it before coming into the house after breakfast. What do these kids do with their stuff??? I bet I'll find it right next to the socks the dryer eats.

Once they get home, I make sure to get their "school picture" next to our chalkboard. It's nice to see how much they grow year by year and it's something they can look back on when they graduate and I kick them out of the house.

I also have the kids fill out a questionnaire. It includes things like "Mommy is my favorite because...", "I like it when Mommy does...", "and "Daddy is no good at..." They really get a kick out of it. Hubby not so much.

The kids are then told it's time to work and they do the traditional whining "NO!!!" "I don't like school" etc...I've even heard them practicing for this over the summer. Every day. To each other. Out loud...They must really love this part of our tradition.

What sort of traditions do you have?

It's a blog hop!

Don't forget to stop by to visit my fellow Crew Mates. We are all sharing Back to Homeschool from our own perspective, so enjoy the varied subjects and views this week. Below is a list of 11 of my friends with links to their blogs. Each day I will be sharing a different group of bloggers. If you would like to see the full list of participating blogs, I encourage you to check out my Back to Homeschool Blog Hop introduction post.

Erin @ For Him and My Family

Lori @ At Home: where life happens

Margaret @ Creative Madness Mama

Nicole @ Some Call It Natural

Crystal @ Crystal Starr

Bonnie @ Write Bonnie Rose

Shawna @ Tenacity Divine

Carol @ Home Sweet Life

Kelli @ Adventure Homeschool

Jacquelin @ A Stable Beginning

Leah Courtney @ As We Walk Along the Road

Let's Celebrate Back to Homeschool with some giveaways:

I happen to be hosting what I feel are some great back to homeschool giveaways. Each of these giveaways feature products related to school and learning. Just click on the link and you will be directed the the giveaway.

Enter to win:

A 3-month membership to A+ Interactive Math's Adaptive Placement Test w/ Individualized Lesson Plans
Don't miss your chance to enter this giveaway. It ends on August 15th!