If you’d like to go on a roller coaster of a conversation, you should ask me how I feel about the first week of school.
I’m excited. Like, so excited. I have an (almost!) empty house! And that makes me so sad. I’m SO GLAD they’re in person. And I’m terrified of the Delta variant. Thomas is SO READY for school, and I wish I could hold him one more year. There’s already less mess, fewer dishes, and Anna gets to watch whatever she wants on Netflix! But I miss taking the kids on adventures, finding bugs outside, and all the chaos of having four kids in the house all the time.
WEEEEEE!!!! Please keep your arms, and legs inside the car at all times. Enjoy the ride!
(Tom took this photo. He’s to blame for almost cutting David out and also for Anna’s shoe/sock combo.)
The great news is that the kids are fine. They’ve loved school and it’s like they don’t even have a neurotic mom who starts crying because they’re getting so big so fast, then yells “CAN I NOT HAVE TWO MINUTES OF PRIVACY?” when they follow her into the bathroom.
David is going to a new school this year, so figuring out transportation to two schools has been extra tricky, not to mention a nationwide bus driver shortage AND A PANDEMIC. There’s been a lot of hurrying-up-to-wait-ing, a lot of shifting one schedule for the sake of the family, a lot of changed minds, and last minute shifts, and the kids haven’t complained.
They haven’t complained about one kid getting drive and another having to ride a packed bus, or one kid getting picked up then having to wait 20 minutes for the other kids.
They don’t complain about the bus or the masks or even the heat! It is remarkable. And it’s something we adults (ME!) could learn a lot from.
On the first day of school, David rode to school with a friend, and Mary and Thomas took the bus.
We waited for a really (ahem) really long time. So when this bus came we obviously started crying (me) and rushed the kids across the road (Tom).
…only to be told that it wasn’t their bus at all. WHOOPS!
When their actual bus did arrive, 10 minutes later, Mary grabbed Thomas’s hand and neither of them looked back.
Tom said, “Let’s go! I’m already behind on my workday!”
Anna said, “I wish I was big!”
And, me? I only cried a little.
Go get ’em kids.
