Back to School….YES!!!!

I love my kids, I really do. But today was officially Christmas in August as they headed to the bus this morning.

The Man and I are exhausted and ready to get back to a schedule. As mentioned, I work at home with my “real job”, you know, the one that pays the bills that I do from 8 – sometimes midnight every day. Having the kids in the house has not been an easy or pleasant situation and I can’t say I’ve been the best Mom in the world this summer. The whole running in and out of my office, screaming in the background, even running in to kiss me when I was on a call or mid thought on a huge proposal? Not so much. The kids can now recite to all their friends “Mommy is WORK-ING. To pay the MORT-GAGE.” I’m not sure they understand the whole mortgage word but by God, when I say it, it sounds scary. I had big plans to try and enjoy just a little bit of summer with them, but….it’s a start up and sometimes things don’t quite work out the way you planned. (Still needing to lose 10 lbs and lacking a serious tan were not part of my summer dreams either…)

The Man has his own set of relief for having them gone. He is mainly in charge of keeping them away from me when I am WORK-ING. To pay the MORT-GAGE. He too is scared of me during the time off. I don’t blame him really. I’ve had more than one Joan Crawford moment this summer and a few fell on his head. Add to that the endless, “I’m boooored” and the ever favorite game of “Gotcha Last” that goes on day after day after day (and started on day two)….well, he’s at the end of his rope too. Add to that, in this mess that appears to be a recession, he makes a tidy little sum in the stock market (which requires a few hours of concentration a day) and he’s had it. There is only so much “Daddy Circus” any human can provide and he is pretty much ready to hang up his clown nose.

We went to Meet the Teacher night on Friday, and it was nothing short of joyous. The countdown to regular schedules, more well behaved children…and of course the eight hours a day we are not listening to them fight, it all made us giddy with excitement. The kids, however, acutely aware of change on the horizon, turned into human suction cups. The fear of starting a new grade really hit home for both of them. Mr. C is stepping into the big leagues of fourth grade, Miss G is leaving the safety of Kindergarten and going into the real world that is first grade. We went out to dinner to celebrate and I spent the entire evening with one or both wrapping their arms around me or kissing me. That’s the good stuff right there. As much as I was stressed having them home all summer, the kisses in the middle of the day, the goofy little pranks played (always at the worst time), and just seeing them when I needed it most after a tough call or in the middle of trying to come up with the next great plan in advertising and drawing a blank, it was all good in hindsight. I’ll miss having their sweet faces around but it’s time to get back to basics, for them and for us.

I’ll admit we may have gone too far with our neighbor who was equally happy to see her kids go back off to school when we started cheering as the bus pulled up this morning. The bus driver didn’t find us any too amusing either I don’t think. The kids though? They thought we were cheering them on boarding the bus and got on with big smiles and waves goodbye so at least we aren’t total shits. Well, maybe we are but they don’t know it yet. Don’t tell them