As promised, here are the August traditions embraced by our family. I admit August is a slow month for celebrating, but none the less we made it special and fun. Of course we needed to do our back-to-school shopping. This meant three kids scouring the school area at Target with lists in hand that teachers had already sent. The kids found it exhilarating while I deemed it the second worst trip to Target each year, only followed by the first worst trip -Halloween costume shopping! (I sew with a glue gun, so no I never made their costumes. No guilt.) I always mustered up the enthusiasm for these Target trips. Afterall my RedCard is my bff and Target is my home away from home.

Our not too big August tradition meant waking up at the time which was about to be the new normal school time. No this day was not the first day of school, but the morning before. The entire family was pulled from their slumber to enjoy a big family breakfast. There was buzz in the house about which beginning of the school year diner we would patronize that year and when we were leaving the house there was always a consenus. Following breakfast, the challenge was to stay awake the entire day with the hope that bedtime would be easier, everyone would fall to sleep quickly and wake the next day alert and ready for school.

No, this isn’t earth shattering or mind blowing. But for our family it was a special morning repeated every year. We had time spent together as our family unit and it put smiles on the kids’ faces which made it all worthwhile.