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.

Home again, home again, jiggety-jig!

One down, 177 to go!

And now we know the smoke detector works...

Burning the aforementioned healthy snack was not on the list.

Today I will...

- hear four alarms going off before 7 am.

- make a hot, healthy breakfast.

-keep encouraging Andrew to finish the picture he was supposed to draw for the first day so that he can eat breakfast (yes, we forgot to do this until late last night...are we starting off on the wrong foot already?).

-take the traditional standing-by-the-front-door-with-your-hand-on-the-doorknob pictures.

-say my standard "I'll be here when you get home" goodbye.

-watch Brooke enjoying her role of oldest Franklin kid at Holly Lane, and reassuring Andrew that she'd show him where his classroom is.

-hear my ten year old girls tell me it's ok to take the camera to their bus stop.

-watch my kids board their buses two by two.

-take a deep cleansing breath.

-sit in and relish the silence (until Porter gets here).

-trust that my children are safe and happy while they are away from me.

-do my Visiting Teaching.

-think about the kids and wondering if they are getting to where they need to be ok.

-watch a vintage 90210 episode.

-make a healthy after-school snack.

-be watching for the kids to come home in a flurry at 2:39 and 3:41 pm.

-sort through mountains of papers and forms, most of which will end up in the recycling bag.

-hear all about the new adventures of recess and lunch and lockers and teachers and friends.

-spend my afternoon pacing back and forth between the kitchen and dining room, making sure everyone is staying on task.

-grill a yummy pork roast for dinner.

-try to make the chaos of after-dinner chores, lunch making, backpack packing, and shower taking go just a little bit more smoothly than it did last night.

-get everyone in bed early, and then crash with Glenn.

-cry if I think about any of this too much longer.

The last hurrah...

Aunt Missy called us for an impromptu trip to the beach today, and we had to take advantage of our (read: the kids') last day of freedom. We went to our new favorite beach at Rocky River Park. The weather was perfect and the waves were high.

Say goodbye to summer.....

A Mother's Dream Come True

After coming home from running yesterday to lots of fighting and bickering, I half-heartedly tried to get the kids to get themselves together while I went upstairs to shower and get ready for the day. I did not have much hope that anything I had said had even been heard, let alone heeded. I took my time in my room, both relishing the few moments to myself and avoiding the mess that awaited down below.

I finally could drag out my alone time no longer. I headed downstairs, ready to dive into the pile of dishes in the kitchen sink. But as I walked down the hallway, there was no pile to be seen! My two wonderful ten year olds had taken it upon themselves to clean the entire kitchen AND vacuum the kitchen floor. Without (technically) being asked. Isn't this a scenario that mothers everywhere dream about? Well yesterday, for one brief moment (until the kitchen was messy from lunch), it was my reality.

The dream continued later on that day when Emma and Leah thoroughly cleaned the fish bathroom of their own free will. Leah told me that they had decided to get to work on their Faith in God award and one of the things was to write down five things they could do to help around the house. And apparently carry them out. It sure was a red-letter day for this mom!