Back to school blues

Another summer vacation has come to an end.

(Sigh.)

I'm not one of those parents who does a happy dance when the school bus rounds the corner. I like the freedom and flexibility of summer. I like having my children home with me (easy for me to say when I have wonderful babysitters helping out while I'm at work.) I like letting the kids stay up late, knowing they will sleep in the next morning. I like not having to sort through endless homework assignments and notes that come home daily in folders and pile up on my kitchen table.

But now it's time to start again.

At least my homework is done for the night. The half dozen or so forms FOR EACH CHILD are now filled out. With the same information as was on them last year. 

The kids' lunch accounts again have money in them. 

And the all-important first day of school clothes have been selected. Let me just give a special thanks to the Minnesota Twins for trading Justin Morneau the weekend before the start of school. Did they not think about how this affects parents like me who bought a brand new Morneau jersey within the last few weeks while back-to-school shopping? Good think AJ still wants to wear it!

Sydney is very excited to go back to school. At least now she is.

Up until last week, she'd been a little worried. She didn't get the same first grade teacher as AJ'd had, and she has a brother who was more than happy to tell her how much harder first grade had been than kindergarten.

But last Thursday we went to the school's open house. Sydney got to meet her teacher, drop off her school supplies and explore her new classroom. She admitted to her teacher that she was nervous. But Mrs. Durand assured her that they were going to have a fun year, and said that Mrs. Boese (Sydney's teacher last year) had already told her what a great student Sydney was.

It was exactly what Sydney needed to hear.

As we headed back to the car, Sydney looked up at me and said, "I guess I'm not so nervous anymore."

What a relief!

Now it's just AJ I need to motivate. Not easy to do for a child whose favorite subject is phy. ed. "All we get to do the first week is boring stuff like walk on a straight line," he complained earlier today.

As for me, I spent this last unofficial day of summer finally doing my spring cleaning. My kitchen looks amazing! Dishes that have been collecting dust in the back of cupboards - they're now in boxes. Other unnecessary clutter - it's gone! I have more counter space than I've seen in years!

I probably should warn the children. If they come home from school tomorrow and dump their backpacks all over the table, there will be bloodshed.

It ought to be a great year!