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Back to school, back to a more disciplined life.

It's that time of year again! It's time for me to buckle down and start enforcing the rules, go back to a disciplined, scheduled life and forget the long days of 16 or 17 hours of light. Yup, it's back to school time.

This year, I'm going to go into it with some resolutions. Hopefully they'll stick better than the ones I made in January!

Resolution #1: I resolve to do a better job helping The Boy with his homework. This means I'm going to make him keep his desk clean and ready to use. I'm going to ensure he's got the right supplies - pencils, crayons, glue, scissors, and whatever else the teacher says he's going to have. And I will provide homework time nightly - regardless of what other activities are going on - to make sure he develops the discipline to put his studies first.

Resolution #2: I resolve to turn "bedtime" into "sleeptime" and start our nighttime rituals earlier. In the summer, we're horrible about bedtime - it's light so late and the neighborhood kids are outside until dark. But come September 1, we'll start baths and stories and brushing teeth at 8 p.m., with the goal of having lights out at 8:30. Last year, we started the ritual around 8:30 and typically it resulted in each kid popping out of bed six or seven times before they actually fell asleep.

Resolution #3: I resolve to cook five nights a week. No fast food! I may use shortcuts like preparing dinners in advance and just heating them up, or serving "quick" meals. I might even do a weekly "breakfast-for-dinner" night and let them have cereal or pancakes. But we're going to eat at home for three reasons: it costs less, it's healthier (even if we eat cereal!) and it promotes family talking time. I miss family dinners...this summer, well, we've probably eaten all together maybe two times a week.

Resolution #4: I am going to know what's going on at school. I kind of already do this, but this year I'm going to go through the kids' backpacks daily and proactively look for notices. I'm going to keep a school calendar and track important dates. I started to feel disconnected toward the end of the school year last year, and this goal is to make sure that doesn't happen again.

Resolution #5: No matter what, my exercise on Saturdays must be over by noon - and hopefully even earlier. During my main training season, sometimes Saturdays become all-day training days - and it's too stressful on everyone. I'm going to try to do less and do it earlier. Hopefully I'll manage to include The Boy in my marathon training this fall (he rides his bike with me as I run) - but even if I am out with just my girlfriends, I'm home and ready to be fully engaged as a mom by noon.

Resolution #6: I resolve to allow my children to participate in the activities most important to them - but to make them choose the one or two activities they most want to do. They will not be allowed to enroll in every class or activity they say they want to do; they need more downtime than that, and with two parents who work full-time outside the home, we just can't take on more. One night a week and one weekend activity each - and if there's any way I can help it, I will not allow the weekday activities to be on the same night as they were last year!

My goodness. I'm tired just thinking about all I have to do. But in the long run, if I can stick to these things, I'll build a comfortable routine for everyone. Or so I hope...