Getting Schooled

I'm a little off this week. I kept thinking that Wednesday was Monday, so now that it really is Friday, it's kind of a nice surprise to realize again and again that the weekend is here. And it's a long one at that.

The kids are gone again and I am sitting here listening to the dryer and the birds and the traffic outside. Only auxillary noises. The silence is what I am most grateful for when it comes to having the kids out of the house. Someone told me that noise sensitivity is due to a magnesium deficiency, but I think it is due to a decade of living with "The Loud Family."

We've been on a roller coaster around here. The kids were on cloud nine when they got home from school on Wednesday. Andrew said he was so glad he's not a kindergartener because they only go to school a half day, but then he tells me that the school day felt like "a whole day and half of a night." Leah was all abuzz when telling me about the inner workings of an intermediate school, then declares that she's "summer sick." When asked to explain, she said, "Have you ever heard of being homesick? Well, I'm summer sick." Emma gigglingly told us about her crazy French teacher and the French rapper they listened to in class, and then yesterday turns into one of Jane Austen's tragic heroines, stomping around the house, sighing dramatically, wronged at every turn. I think Brooke is the only one who came home saying, "My teacher is amazing" and continues to be on a third grade high.

We knew there was going to be an adjustment for Andrew. All the kids had a hard time starting first grade, and Andrew is no different. I just didn't realize how fast and furious it would come. He was angry (at what, I don't know) for most of the afternoon and evening yesterday. We had been invited to a pack meeting at church, and Andrew loves to go to those because he can play with the big boys. Unfortunately the meeting didn't start until 6:30, and I knew pretty early on that Andrew would need to be in bed by 7:30. So we had to cut out the pack meeting. And sure enough, by 7:50 when Glenn got home, Andrew was OUT COLD. Lesson learned.

In just over an hour, I get to find out how this abbreviated first week of school wound up for the kids. The house will no longer be silent, and in fact the noise is sure to intensify even more, as if the kids are trying to make up for lost time. I better go take some magnesium supplements.