Back to School
Imagine you're walking down the street when a smell tickles
your nose. Are you being followed by a young man fresh out of gym class who is
not yet wearing deodorant even though it really is prime time to start? Though
you try to resist, you take another sniff of the air. You catch a touch of
banana peel left in the car for a week with a hint of day old peanut butter and
jelly crust.
You start to look around for an overflowing trash can causing
the attack on your nasal passages, but instead you find some sort of creature.
You quickly snap your eyes forward. Was that Medusa? No, a pinch on your wrist confirms you have
not turned to stone.
You shouldn't turn around; mother always said it wasn't
polite to stare. But out of a valid concern Godzilla is following you, you take
a quick peek. It appears to have human eyes, though the sunken eyes have dark
circles under them. Realizing this is just a vagrant, you sit on a bench and
allow yourself a long look.
 |
| Sometimes you just know a kid is going to grow up awesome! (copyright Lauri Meyers) |
It's a woman, you decide, with her long hair sticking out
wildly on every side. Looks like an odd tattoo on her arm - no, it's just a
streak of ink. Her lips are moving, and you hear her mumbling something like, pick up the tap shoes, get a size three
soccer ball, smock for class, permission slip...
It's back to school week this week! I have been shuttling
both kids, packing enough snacks and lunches for a short voyage, and signing more
papers than the president. I didn't follow the advice about getting into the
sleep routine before school, and the kids have been up at night all week. And I
look like it.
I'm too embarrassed to take a picture of my harried self. Luckily, I have no problem selling out my
five-year-old self! Just age the picture to the right by a few decades and you
get the picture.
I hope we settle into routine soon, so I can actually get a bit of writing done. First, I seriously need to go take a shower.
How is back to school going in your neck of the woods?
I've become that Mom who drops off all the forgotten items at the front office! Middle school is complicated - appears to require notebooks, folders, textbooks and worksheets that magnetically repel one another and scatter throughout the house until the bus pulls away from the curb. Patting myself on the back that they are at least getting out of the house on time, dressed, semi-clean, fed (OK - with a Poptart).
ReplyDeleteOh. It doesn't get any easier? Argh... If we could just get everyone sleeping through the night and mommy in the shower every so often, I'll be happy!
DeleteTiring. Very tiring. I've already had to stay up til 10:56 PM to finish a darned essay that I had to write in cursive. *YAWN* But my Math/Science teacher is AWESOME!!! He is a great actor - at least, I hope he's acting... Just the other day, he was joking around saying how the world was doomed because a student got a math problem wrong... then 30.7 seconds later, he lets out a perfect imitation of a Banshee. You should have seen some of the girls faces. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! ;)
ReplyDeleteI'm also not fond of that thing they call "homework" Ugh.
Erik
Okay, so you Bill Nye the science guy as your teacher??!! Awesome! That is classic math teacher humor. I guess all those numbers in their heads just makes them a little kooky. Sorry about all the homework :0
DeleteI don't like the first day of school. That just means lots of homework...for me! Yes, you've got that right when you said that you've signed more papers than the president.
ReplyDeleteI swear more papers came home every day. Then I became Daisy Troop Leader - which is going to be a blast - but it has doubled my paperwork!
DeleteOh man! It took me the full week to get back into something that resembled a "normal" school routine. Papers, papers, papers- yes- it's worse than getting your first mortgage. I love the "spare" time but go ahead and ask me if it's been used for writing. Go ahead. Ask. That's right! No. But, tomorrow starts another week and I am promising myself that between cleaning out the basement, patching up holes in walls and getting back into my slow cooker groove, I will finish the last 20,000 words......
ReplyDeleteWe're in week two now, and I have deepened my zombie-esque fashion. I may or may not have slept last night in the clothes I'm wearing. I'm honestly not sure. I just keep adding deodorant.
DeleteGirl scouts is really turning out to be a form factory too! I'm hunting down permission slips from people this week. I think I might need to make it more fun, like jumping out of the bushes and yelling "did you bring your form?" or tying a balloon to their door and saying "attach form here."
Bless you, Lauri! My daughter started back a month ago and I'm so glad all the paper-signing, sleep adjustment, please-mom-run-me-to-Target-because-I-need-an-orange-folder-to-match-my-orange-notebook, is finally over! :)
ReplyDeleteSo survival is possible!!! I'm pretty sure next week is going to be the week I get into the rhythm. Why does it smell so much around here? oh that's me.
DeleteI taught school for so many years that it seems strange that I'm not in school every day. I still substitute though, so I get a bit of the feel.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you'll get in the routine. Hang in there :•)
I'm in week 3, and I've returned to shower failure! Oh dear. I'm definitely going to shower today though. Just as soon as I write a new blog post...and sew on girl scout patches...and put away my summer clothes...
Delete