The End of the Line

We have one more day of summer break, and then it's back to the grind. I am not ready, the kids are not ready. We have not been practicing early bedtimes. We don't have everything we need. I'm behind on laundry and I need to go grocery shopping. Lucy needs a hair cut. Bethany needs a school bag. Instead of doing all the things we were "supposed" to be doing, Chris and I went away for the weekend and left the last minute stuff to the very last minute. And today, instead of getting busy, we swam at my father-in-law's house for hours and then left three out of four kids with Grandpa for a sleepover. After years of doing the back to school thing, I know by now that it'll all come together, whether we want it to or not. Maybe it would be smoother sailing if everyone were back in the habit of early bedtimes and we didn't have to run five million errands the day before school starts. But we're okay with milking every last ounce of summer goodness for all it's worth. We don't want to let you go, summer; not without a fight.

I'm in a mild panic thinking how quickly life is going spiral out of control. Juggling three schools, homework, after school activities, social calendars, my duties as board president of preschool, running the elementary school book fair. I keep telling myself it's all going to be GOOD. It is all going to be good.

I have a reluctant acceptance of fall. The excitement of a new school year...changing temperatures...new clothes...the world is open to new possibilities. I like sweaters and tights and boots and apple cider and field trips. I dislike getting up early, losing my kids to the regiment of school and all it entails, and the looming, dreaded winter.

This year is different because my baby will be in preschool, and for the first time I'll have a preschooler with no little ones at home. I'll enjoy unhindered trips to Target, Starbucks with friends, and trips to the gym. All in four and a half hours a week. It's something to look forward to, and also something to mourn. Because this is the last time I'll have a kid starting the 3's class.

While my youngest is running off to preschool, my oldest is starting middle school. I'm a little scared because it's going to hit her hard that this ain't no grade school picnic. My daughter has to be more organized and responsible than she's ever been in her life, and I worry about how much I should interfere and how much I should let her be, making her own mistakes along the way. I'm scared about the new friends she'll meet, and the terrible things they'll teach her. I know she's going to meet new people, but I like her friends and I hope they stick around too. I think about when I started middle school, how much my social circle changed; but times are different now. Yeah I sound like an old lady, but truly. With texting and all that jazz, kids today are way more connected than we were when I was in school.

We had an incredible summer. Life-changing, I might even venture to say. We didn't do everything I had hoped we would do, but then again I tend to set the bar kind of unattainably high. And now we're going to have an incredible school year. We're going to make it happen, because we can.

Good bye, summer. 'Til next time...xoxo