Far-a-way Refrain

“Everything I need to know… I learned in kindergarten.” ― Robert Fulghum

There are lots of far-a-way refrains that all of a sudden don’t seem so far away.

Before you are married, ‘When you get married…’

When you are pregnant, “When the baby comes…”

When you have the child, “When Z goes to school…”

Z did school last year part time, and is this year going to school full-time as a 4 year old.

I remember telling a mother of children, how easy it must be when your children are in school, and her saying, No. It’s Harder! Harder? But how? Your load will be lightened, right?

But I do get it more. The waking-up-early. The changing-of-clothes early. The prepping and flattening fly-away-hair on a 4 year old as she rushes about. The Eat-Quickly-Now commands, Dress-Quickly-Now commands. The ‘Where is Baby A?’ question and search. The rushing down to the car. The buckling of carseats x 2.  Then the morning drive (which this year should be short!) and the drop off. The lugging of the toddler out of the classroom with the explanation, It’s not your turn yet. Then the hoping that your child behaves, the coming-home, and the morning lull. The I’m going to do so much when she’s in school goal falls flat as the hours still rush by, the littler child still takes your attention, and now requires entertainment since the bigger-entertainer-Z will be gone. The guilty feeling nabbing at the back of mind I should be doing A, B, and C because Z is at school and you realize you only got half of your A task done.

But I’m excited for the next step and grateful that we have schools to go too. I am currently reading I am Malala  and to read their struggle to get to go to school puts any of our Ugh I hate getting up so early to go to school to shame.

This morning was greeted by a blue flower from the Heavenly Blue Morning Glory vine and was so excited to see it finally bloom. Hummingbirds love this flower. The picture below is unedited and straight from the camera. That’s how bluey it is. It’s a great back-to-school gift.

I also enjoyed getting to peruse the Back-to-School aisles. As a teacher, I was always there scouring for specials. Now that Z is going to full-time school, it feels good to peruse the aisles again. 25 cents notebooks, 25 cents crayons! But the list for pre-K states no need to buy school supplies, so ended up spending a couple of dollars for 8 notebooks just because… 25 cents!

Here are some summer highlights below….
Zinnias that Z likes because they sound like her name. And the name of the flower on the seed packet is Giant Violet Queen, except ours don’t look so giant yet, kind of like Z too!

The going to a Masters graduation was different from the regular graduations I go too because of the younger children clapping for their parents, the grandparents holding the squirmy babies, saying, “Look, there’s Mommy graduating, hold on.” and the President of the school’s extra shout outs to the families for their support.

And to people who ask how I find time to write, the answer is below …