Dear Summer

I am ready and waiting for you. Today I am starting the adventure of packing up a classroom. I wish that I had thought about that when I put on a white dress shirt today. It amazes me that there can be so much excitement and anticipation at both the beginning and ending of each year. I am excited to pack it all away. To see the white walls and the promise of a new year. Throughout the year I seek and dream of ways to fill the walls with fun and learning. Yet now I am equally excited about the emptiness of the wall. Of time to just be a mom and to read books and each lunch at a normal time. Movies and play dates. Late nights watching television. I have loved this school year more than any before. But I am equally looking forward to an awesome and much more calm summer than last year. Just a few short weeks to go!

Really ?!?

Are you kidding me, Friday? You were supposed to be the good one. Then you went and did THAT? Not cool. But guess what. Only three more of you this school year. Your only redeeming feature was Ben coming home and bringing me a flavor of the month. Otherwise...I could have totally skipped you and gone straight to Saturday. That's right. You are no longer my favorite. So there. Tuesday? It's all you. Let's see what you've got.

Bring it on, Thursday

There is nothing.
n.o.t.h.i.n.g.
That you can throw at me
that I haven't already seen this week
But if you promise to put on your big girl pants
and try to play nice
I might decide to like you
almost as much as your neighbor, Friday.

Dear Wednesday,

I am sorry to tell you this, but I am breaking up with you. You used to be my favorite day of the work week. What is not to love about an early dismissal day combined with 2 hours of ballet for both girls? Those two hours equaled kid-free mommy time. Love it. This year you even gave me PE for the students which meant that for the first time in 8 years I had a special on my short day. Beautiful. Truly, I looked forward to you every week. You were far enough away that I could forget Monday, but still close enough that I could dream about Friday and my beloved jean day. But the fact of the matter is you have been rotten the last three weeks. You have left me bruised, bitten, scratched, and exhausted. Bleh. Who wants that? Not me. So, we are done here. I am pretty sure that when you come around next week I might be *cough* *cough* sick. I would be happy to reconsider if you decide that you are ready to play nice again. Until then....Friday is my new best friend.

Activity Days

Where have you been for the last 6 years?? Tonight My Little Reader was downright giggly. Chipper, happy, glowing. She skipped into the house and proclaimed that "Activity day is brilliant!" She proceeded to talk non-stop for 30 minutes until we forced her to bed nearly an hour and a half past her actual bedtime. There have been many, many days in the past 5 years and 364 days that I have reflected on how we "ruined" her life by having her younger sister and then her younger brother. and thereby robbing her of the perfect life as a single child. This girl thrives on attention and she doesn't much like sharing it with the siblings. But tonight was all about her and it was beautiful and perfect. I have a feeling that despite the exhausting amount of time I now spend in the car on Wednesday nights (ballet, errands, preschool, ballet, church, home, church) the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of every month are about to become my favorite days of the month!

Dear Children...

Consider this your 48 hour notice. You have been wreaking havoc on my house and it is coming to an end. Enjoy creating 9 million pieces of confetti that you throw on your floor. Relish the 2,000 toys strewn across the playroom. Have fun continuing to smear toothpaste on the counter, and floor, and mirror. Keep stepping over those toys and towels on the bathroom floor. Don't you worry about the ketchup smeared on my table or counter. Nevermind those toys thrown about the backyard. Or the stacks of laundry that are patiently waiting for you to put them away in your room---not my living room. Enjoy it...because come Saturday morning the fun is going to end. That's right--cleaning day. You will clean like you have never cleaned before. It's going to be so much fun... well it will be for me anyway!

Today...

*** The little-est was up at 4:30. WHAT? That's right folks, 4:30. His insomniac of a mom hadn't gone to bed until well after 1 in the morning. Cartoons for him, back to bed for me.

*** The oldest and the youngest have been waging a screaming battle all day. They recently hit their last chance and are now both locked away in their rooms for a nap.

*** The last screaming battle also resulted in milk being spilled all over my kitchen and the canceling of our afternoon date to see a movie with friends. Because you can't see a movie when you have been confined to your room (read cell) for the remainder of the day.

*** With my new found hours of freedom I should do something truly productive like laundry, lesson plans, tackling the hall closet, or writing the school newsletter. But if I do those things now whatever will I do tonight when I can't sleep?

*** Instead I am going to curl up with some popcorn (to make up for the missed movie) and a book.

*** For the record-other than her complete inability to keep her room clean for more than 5 minutes at a time- the middle-est has been wonderful today. She didn't even cry when we cancelled our movie date with one of her best-est friends. Now she is happily watching a movie in the living room while the other two sleep it off.

*** Guess what----all that and it isn't even noon yet.