What will I do with all my time?

This is my attempt to be funny.

When people hear that Zoey's starting kindergarten this fall, meaning two of my three kids will be enrolled in full time school, the first question is, "what are you going to do with all your time?"  (I'm not referring to any one person - this has been asked by pretty much everyone I've talked to about it.)  I know that it's meant somewhat rhetorically, in contrast to what life is like with all 3 kids at home.  But I have a blog, so here's the answer!

First, because apparently I'm feeling defensive (and writing on behalf of all stay at home parents with some of their kids in school), I'm going to relativize "all that time":

• 180 days of the year are school days, so the other 185 days of the year, all 3 kids are at home.
• On those school days, the early mornings and then afternoon / evenings are the craziness of a 3 kid family, and those times right before and right after school are much crazier because of school.  (When it was just Josh in school, I actually preferred the days off of school, not just because I like spending time with him, but because they are easier.  There's lots of hustle and bustle that goes with school, as well as rough transition times.)
• The special needs tasks continue, which include one or more appointments per week, and miscellaneous things like gathering paperwork for insurance, extra communicating with the school, ordering and picking up meds, and researching something or other.
• Some of the volume of work throughout the day (laundry / dishes / cleaning, grocery shopping / cooking, errands, shuttling to activities) is still that of 3 kids.  
• And oh yes, the main thing: there is still a beautiful and darling 10 month old at home full time who keeps me on my toes at all moments that she's awake.

More jokes

But - and I think this is what the question is getting at - for the first time in a very long time, I do have regular stretches of the day where one kid is napping and the other two kids are in school, and I do get to CHOOSE what to do with that time.  Here's what I'm hoping and planning for that time to look like:

• The thing I *really* want to do is start running again and maybe train for a half marathon in the spring.  If I can add in this one thing 3-4 times a week, I will be so happy.  Then, as time allows, I will also try to do some of these other things:
• Take a Coursera course
• Nap
• Enjoy some of the things I already do, but without constant interruption
• Quiet times
• Reading for fun
• Talking to my sister on the phone
• Blog

And the hours where Ivy is awake but it's just her and me will also be different.  There are tons of things that are easier with just one kid in tow: taking the dog for walks, going to coffee shops, running errands.  I'll be able to take her to stuff that the big kids have mostly aged out of - like toddler time at the library, toddler area at the Children's museum - and then not feel guilty as she gets dragged to all the bigs' activities on nights and weekends.

Cant' stop won't stop

It will be interesting to see what Ivy's experience is like as both of her big siblings start school.  Josh's and Zoey's early years were so intertwined, and for them that was great (although certainly there were moments that would have been easier for me with only one, or nice for them to get more of my individual attention).  Ivy loves having her siblings around and she appears to be the most extroverted member of our family, so I think she will miss having them around during the day.  But she is adaptable, she will get plenty of my attention, we will stay involved in our play group, and she will have her siblings around some of the time - so I think it will be good.

Those of you with kid(s) in school and also kid(s) at home - especially those with an age gap of 3 years or more - I would be interested in any advice you have!

P.S.  Since I'm on the topic of this being a transitional time:  will I ever go back to work?  Yes, probably.  I'm not sure exactly when or what that will look like, but I would like to be a practicing lawyer again someday.  But for the next few years, I'm still feeling this way with Ivy.