Posts tagged with back.

The best part of having the kids back in school

Kathy Dobson, September 14, 2009 at 11:43 AM

 

September means I have to pack school lunches, wake up five little zombies each morning, and make sure everybody is out the door on time.

 

It might not be the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, but I admit, there are some definite reasons to embrace back-to-school. Here are my top five:

 

# 5: No more having to hear, "Mom, I'm bored."

 

Bored? In the middle of summer vacation? Awww, poor you. Let me list every form of entertainment that I can think of:

 

How about cutting the grass?

 

Washing the kitchen floor?

 

Maybe cleaning the bathroom?

 

My two oldest learned years ago that announcing they're 'bored' in the middle of the summer isn't a smart thing to share with me. My three youngest are finally learning that I consider it a full-blown battle cry to give them more chores to do.

 

# 4: Every single one of my kids are now in school.

 

My oldest is 19, into her second year of university, and my youngest is four. Thanks to that age spread, there's always been at least one kid at home, too young to start school. But this September, with Sam starting kindergarten, every single one of my five children are attending school. At the same time. Unbelievable.

 

# 3: The silence. The beautiful sound of complete and utter silence.

 

I do a lot of my work from home. This means I've spent years trying to edit and produce short radio docs in my home office. But just try sounding professional on the phone with a "Wipe my bum, please!" being shouted by your two- or three-year-old in the background.

 

There's only one person in the house. Me.

 

# 2: My four-year-old has finally stopped asking me the same question, over and over again.

 

For the entire summer vacation, every couple of days, my four-year-old has eagerly asked me the same question. Again. And again. And again.

 

"When do I start school?"

 

Soon, Sam, soon.

 

"How soon?"

 

Uh, in a couple more weeks.

 

"How many sleeps?"

 

In 14 more sleeps, Sam.

 

"Is that soon?"

 

Yup, that's pretty soon.

 

"How soon?"

 

Go ask your father.

 

# 1: My 13-year-old will finally stop asking me the same question, over and over again.

 

For the entire summer vacation, every couple of weeks, my 13-year-old has asked the same question as his younger brother. Except David wasn't looking for the same answer.

 

When he asked me the night before the first day of school, "How soon do we start school?" I said, "Really soon. Tomorrow."

 

Sam was the only one pumping his fist in the air.

 

Tagged with school, to, back, happy | Comments (2) |