School...BLECH!!!

OK, so remember that Sunday night feeling? You know, that feeling of bummerness that comes over you around 4 in the afternoon on a Sunday when you realize your weekend is almost over? You have school the next morning which means five days of getting up early, working hard, and maybe even some drama with classmates. Yeah, well, that never went away for me. I still get the bummers on Sunday nights. If I had my way, my family would live in a bubble and we would never have to be apart. Sounds sensible and healthy, eh? Well, yeah, I know it's not so I send my kids to school like the law tells me I have to. I even go all out...new shoes, outfit, feigned enthusiasm. Fortunately, my neighbors rally and we all have breakfast together at the bus stop that morning which adds some genuine excitement to the morning. I did OK this year. I kept it together until I could hear the bus enter the neighborhood. I had on my biggest sunglasses to try and hide my misty eyes, but Meg is too in tune with me emotionally. She looked over at me with tears in her eyes at that same moment. I told her I was so happy for her to be a third grader (that's right, folks, THIRD GRADE! Didn't she just roll over for the first time last week?) and couldn't wait to hear her stories when she got home. Claire, of course, could barely contain her excitement to show off her new earrings, gab with friends, and have the same teacher that Megan had loved the year before. So, with knots in my stomach and a lump the size of Idaho in my throat, I put my two lovely, sweet, growing up too fast girls on the bus and sent them off so other lucky people can spend all day with them. Did I mention I really like being their mom?

I still have my buddy Ian. He fills my days with laughter, anger, energy, and frustration all wrapped up in one. I am so thankful for this one on one time with my little man. I hope I can make the most of it until he climbs on that bus just before I'm dragged into the ambulance that will take me to Shady Acres as their newest out patient. You know, the crazy mom who can't stand to be away from her children so she volunteers to spend hour after hour in front of the school copier? Yeah, that's me.