The hardest part of getting out the door on co-op day is, hands down, the food. You’d think it would be gathering up backpacks, or making sure I have my tutoring supplies, or checking to be sure everyone has actual clothes on. Nope. It’s the food.
Homeschool moms are conditioned to a completely different rhythm in the area of food prep than our institutional school counterparts. We provide three meals a day for however many people are in our family— and most of those are hot meals, set on the table and not served out of lunchboxes. Co-op day breaks us out of our norm on so many levels. First, there’s the breakfast that must be prepared, served, and cleaned up in a timely fashion. No dawdlers! There’s a train (van) to catch! Next there’s a packed lunch, which let’s be honest, we’re kind of newbies at. And finally, there’s walking in the door, exhausted… and wondering who is going to be the adult tonight and make dinner for all these people. Oh, wait. It’s you.