Back to Sanity

It's back to school time around here. Thank the Lord! It was a rough summer. Not only did we have a baby right smack dab in the middle of it, which limited the types of activities we could do, but it was way too hot to do anything outside. Our highest high this summer was 113 degrees. Not the heat index, the actual temperature. It tied the all-time, ever recorded, in the history of the city, high. Like EVER! That's just ridiculous. I don't know who I have to call about that, but seriously, I have no time for that mess. So anyway, we didn't make it outside too much. Which meant a lot of tv and video games inside. I wasn't quite sure what to do on the first day of school when my tv wasn't tuned and locked to Disney Channel all day. What? There are other things on tv besides Phineas and Ferb and Good Luck Charlie and, gasp, Jessie? (I do not care for that last one, if you really want to know. Good Luck Charlie is not bad though. I actually enjoy watching it myself!) Anyway, it's back to school, and while I am not excited about the whirlwind of chaos that will descend upon us at 4:00 every afternoon, I am excited about not having to yell at someone every second of the day.

Our first grader. I can't believe Blair is in first grade this year. At first, it didn't seem strange. Afterall, she was in Kindergarten last year so first grade is the obvious next step. But when I walked her in her class and saw her big stack of text books and was reminded that she would have a locker this year, it caught me completely off guard. She's going to have real, honest-to-goodness homework this year, not just busy work. And multiple subjects with real text books. And a locker! I might as well get her a locker mirror and magnetic notepad and 8000 decorative magnets now because that is definitely the kind of locker-user she'll be! :) Please pay special attention to the backpack in her photo--she fought and fought for a rolling backpack this year. I was steadfastly against it just for the principle of the matter...have our children gotten so lazy that they can't even carry their own backpacks anymore?? However, I sneakily gave in after shopping two stores and noticed they didn't carry them, so I figured what would it hurt to agree to it knowing she wouldn't be able to find one? Hee hee Well, we did eventually find one but they were terribly plain, so I told her she could choose an ugly plain backpack with wheels or a cute one without wheels. Of course, she decided on a cute one, which is the one she is modeling here. The part that sold her on this particular bag was that it came with a charm already attached to the zipper. Oh, and that the style name is Lollipop and "I do like lollipops," she informed me. It's the small things... It was really cute seeing her so excited about it as she packed it up on the last night of summer. "I love my new backpack. Isn't it the cutest one you've ever seen!? Mom, is this really the cutest backpack you've ever seen in your whole life!?"

Sloane is starting pre-k this year. So this is the first year she gets to ride the bus and be at the big kids' school. She chose a princess backpack. While not my first choice, it's better than the Dora one she wanted at first, especially since she doesn't even really watch Dora much anymore. Anyway, notice her shoes. Those stinkin' shoes. ...Sloane is very particular about her shoes. Once she finds a pair or two that she likes, she will not wear any other ones. Especially tennis shoes. Or socks. Normally she won't have anything to do with that nonsense. (Not even during winter. When there's snow on the ground!) It's got to be dress shoes, but only ones she's used to. Case in point, I bought her a really cute pair of pink shoes, with pink flowers on them, that SHE herself picked out, at Easter time. I think she has only worn them once. So anyway, when we were told that she would need to have a pair of tennis shoes to leave at school for PE, I bought some figuring she probably wouldn't want to wear them but that it will be the teacher's battle to fight, not mine, so oh well. (I know, I'm so considerate. ha! But I'm all battled-out.) Well, when Sloane expressed wanting to wear them the day we bought them, I agreed, knowing that her excitement over them would only help her come PE time. Well now I can't get the darn shoes off her feet. (And you have to know she wears, like, church dresses everyday. C'mon, you don't wear tennis shoes with church dresses. No, not even when you're 4.) I even tried to buy her another pair of dress shoes when we were at the store, any ones she wanted, to replace her two holey, worn out, torn up ones, but she refused every other shoe and now will only wear these. I even offered her one of her favorite torn up pair today (that I had previously told her she couldn't wear to school because they were in such terrible shape) and she wouldn't, reminding me, "You said I couldn't wear those to school." Oh, so NOW she wants to listen. So it looks like once again, the battle is mine to fight. That's what I get for being mean. 

Reid. My dear boy Reid. He's so easy when it comes to clothes and shoes and backpacks. I guess that's a boy for you. Of course, the idea of starting school again and not getting to play hours and hours of video games...well that's just atrocious. Now, he would correct you and say that he is not playing hours and hours of video games all day. He's playing the ipod. As if that's supposed to be any different. But I still think he's going through withdrawls. (Yes, I know the fact that I LET him play hours and hours of video games or ipod or whatever all day is a bigger issue, but well, that was the only way to keep the peace some days and as I said earlier, I was all battled-out long before the summer even started so I just went with the "whatever gets us through the day" mentality.) But back to school, he's in the 3rd grade now. I'm a little scared about his work load, not really for him, but for me, who is the one who's going to have to be on top of him and his work load daily. They have a major project once a month and a book report every 9 weeks, or vice versa. I can't remember off hand. Anyway, that does not sound like any fun to the one in the mom role. So we'll see how that goes. But I know HE'LL do great!

So goodbye summer and hello school! Happy school year everyone!