Impatience

This time of year reminds me of the way your body is in early pregnancy. Not yet able to pull off maternity clothes, yet way too thick all of a sudden to wear any of your regular clothes. It is an annoying in-between time, when you just look fat. That is what early September is. It is not yet Fall but Summer is over, at least all the fun of Summer. As everyone can tell, Fall is my favorite season. I love it. The smells, the weather. You can wear long pants and long sleeves again, but you don't need a heavy coat. The leaves turn all beautiful and bright, the air is crisp. At this point I tend to mentally block out all of the leaves that will have to be raked up and the acorns the size of tennis balls that fall from the trees and land with loud clunks on the top of my car and my head. Fall evokes more of a feeling of rebirth and renewal than Spring ever does.

But it is not cool out. I am so tired of looking at the kids in these worn out boring summer things. Practically all of Jack's shorts have stains on them, half of Abbey's short sleeves tops are all of a sudden too small, and the cute summer dresses that looked so adorable on her in June now just look ridiculous. And here at my office, Labor Day marks the end of casual dress. The biggest impact is that I can no longer wear open toed shoes. That means no more sandals, and really no more Capri's because wearing Capri's with closed toe clunky wintry shoes just looks insane. But it is still hot, so I have on short sleeves but my pants are my dressy pants and so I just look all discombobulated. I know, I know, what is wrong with me? There are millions of people out there that have way more serious, dramatic and important stuff to worry about and here I am bitching about office dress.

But now that school is in full swing and soccer and gymnastics have begun, I feel like it is Fall. It should be. But it is not. Fall does not "officially" begin until September 22nd. Today the weather forecast calls for temperatures in the 80's, maybe even pushing 90 in some areas. What the heck? I am getting impatient. I want to clean out our clothes and pull out the warmer stuff. Don't you remember when you were little and you went school shopping, you had all these brand new clothes but it was too damn hot to wear any of them? I can still vividly remember the outfit I wore on my first day of High School. It was of course an outfit appropriate for an outside temperature of about 40 degrees. Black pants, red turtleneck (?????) and then another long sleeved rugby type shirt (red, white & black of course) on top of that. The best part is this, 2 (not 1) but 2 pairs of socks (red and white) and sneakers. I am getting sweaty just thinking about it, and yet for some reason I don't remember being hot that day (I certainly wasn't "hot" in a "damn she's fine" way in that outfit!). Perhaps it was cooler then? Oh shit, they must be right about this Global Warming thing.

So, does anyone else remember what they wore their first day of High School? If you do, leave me a comment. Let's see if we can get really good and immersed in nostalgia.

Top Ten List

I hope that everyone had a safe and happy Labor Day weekend! To commemorate the end of the season, here is my "Top Ten Reasons Why I Am Glad Summer Is Over" list.

10. The sight of my pasty white legs in shorts.

9. Bloody bug bite scabs.

8. Crisp Fall weather approaching, crinkly fall leaves.

7. Dirty, filthy, sand encrusted feet.

6. 10 pm bedtimes.

5. S’mores. And cheeseburgers. And hot dogs. And ice cream.

4. Sunscreen - apply liberally and re-apply every 2 hours or after swimming or excessive sweating. OK. Sure.

3. Return of Apples. Apple pie. Apple picking. Apple cider. Cider donuts . . .

2. Bathing suits.

And the number one reason I am glad summer is over -

1. Three little words. Back. To. School.

The New Kid

A new kid came over to my house yesterday after school. He got off the bus, threw me his backpack and jumped on his bike. After pulling on his helmet he took off pedaling down the street, up the street, circling me as I walked toward home carrying the backback filled with the usual back to school paperwork to be filled out. Once at the house he grabbed himself a glass, opened the fridge and poured himself some juice. I asked him how his friend A was that we hadn't seen all summer. "Good" he replied, "why do you ask?" He sauntered around, helped Abbey with a drawing, seeming all that much older than the last time I had seen him. When he opened the cupboard and got himself some crackers I just had to remark. "Wow, you sure are doing a lot for yourself today, I like it!"

"Well, I'm in first grade now mom, what do you think?"

Oh Jack, it seems like just yesterday you were still a little boy, my little boy, asking me to get you juice, get you a snack, help you get on the computer. Oh wait . . . that was yesterday.

Edging Back To Normal

I was going to post yesterday and entitle it "Hand, Foot and they might fire my Ass" but never got around to it. Today I am back at work and thoroughly enjoyed my coffee and bagel this morning in peace and quiet. Everyone seems to be on their way back to healthy and I will be happy to stop making multiple meals trying to find something that the kids can eat that doesn't bother their mouth sores. Meals that they couldn't eat that ended up where? Where do you think? Down my gullet. Scrambled eggs still hurt your mouth, I'll eat them. Chicken noodle soup too salty, don't want to waste it. Pudding too cold? (too cold???) No problem, tastes great.

So the school year has gotten off to a bumpy start, with Jack missing his first day of first grade yesterday. He was so distraught, he watched the bus go by and just looked pathetic. I was pretty distraught myself, after having been in the house for 6 days straight dealing with the cocksucker virus, I had had enough! But today he was well enough to go, not 100% better but good enough. Every time the phone rings though I am expecting it to be the school. "Excuse me, but did you know your son is still sick? Why would you send him to school like this you sadistic uncaring fool?" But so far, so good.

Waiting at the bus stop this morning he was excited, nervous and extremely shy. Last year the bus picked him up and dropped him off at the end of the driveway, which was great for us. Now that he is a big first grader he has to go to the "official" bus stop down the road with the other kids. It will be fine I'm sure, once he gets into the swing of it. We are just not used to interacting with others that early in the morning. At least he only has to stand there, I had to make chit chat with the other mothers. Not that I mind, I can mingle with the best of them. I do wonder about shy mother's though. How do they do it? Do they have anxiety over every play date, every trip to the park? God bless them, I guess you just have to grin and bear it.

Kids In The Shoe

While Abbey has been sick she has been wanting to watch this old DVD we have. My parents picked it up for Jack about 3 years ago after he became obsessed with Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer. Unfortunately, when we got it home and put it on it wasn't at all the Rudolph from t.v. but a strange assortment of old cartoons from the 30's. One of them was this semi-creepy cartoon of the Old Woman Who Lived In The Shoe. I had forgotten all about it until now, but it makes me laugh my ass off. All of the cartoons are a riot, and involve the characters smoking and even a parrot drinking beer. Amazing what they used to get away with! I had to share this one with you so after some careful investigation I found the exact cartoon on You Tube (you can find anything these days). So check it out (just click on the title "Kids In The Shoe" above) and be prepared to laugh.