Tears of a different kind for the new school year...

So another school year is underway today.....

Whilst it is of course a joyous occasion {because it means I will be alone...well tomorrow anyway when all the girls return to school!!!!}....

..... it can also cause me to be a little sad and teary.....

There is nothing like the reality of a new school year and the girls going into a new grade to make me feel like a little part of that daughter has grown up without me seeing it or without me realising it...

Even though I am there for every little thing I still feel that I have missed a little part of each daughters growth in that previous year.....maybe more so with daughters 2, 3 and 4.

Although you try to divide your time between everyone...it is hard to do....I know full well that the eldest and the youngest get a bit more than their fair share...

Let's face it....everything the eldest does is a 'first'...and everything that the youngest does is a 'last'...most of what is inbetween we have seen at some stage before!!

Add to that the hectic pace at which everything happens around here {well everything except the girls cleaning their rooms!} and weeks disappear with the speed of light...

It is easy to only half listen to somebody's re-telling of their day or to say I'll do that for you in a minute...but that minute turns into an hour, then two and then becomes never.....

So today as three out of five of the girls have returned to school I am sitting here contemplating how to share my time more evenly this year to be sure that everybody get's their share {including me....}

Not an easy task me thinks!

Any tips on how you make sure everybody gets the attention they deserve in your household?