School's out!

Today was my children's last day day of school. I am both sad and elated.

My kindergarteners are now first graders and my fourth grader is now a fifth grader. Having a child in the last year of elementary school I can handle; not having children that in any way resemble little kids is a tough pill to swallow.

Slowly I've been getting used to the idea. For example, my kindergarteners both began reading mid-year. Thing 2 lost six teeth, an entire year before her older sister did. The poor thing adores corn on the cob and has no way to actually eat it on the cob in the short-term. (I knew we should have vacationed in France this year. The French do not eat corn; they believe it's what animals are fed.) I felt a sense of camaraderie when Thing 2's teacher barely got through the day, so unsettled was she by releasing another flock of children to the next grade. And this was a woman who has been teaching 20 years! That made me feel better.

There is a huge upside to this school's-out-for-the-summer thing. I have a two-month break from enforcing strict bedtimes and pulling sleepy children out of bed in the morning, coercing them into eating breakfast and and pouring them into the car. Without school there's no scramble to do homework after school, after-school activities, the bath ritual and our daily dose of Wii Fit. This I will enjoy.

Tomorrow we're heading to Tahoe. I need the smell of pine trees. I also need a new pair of skis and boots and everyone says the best place to get fitted for them is Granite Chief in Truckee. Let's hope they have some inventory left as it's June after all ...

So, welcome to my blog. Silly that I'm late jumping on this bandwagon as I make my living as a writer!!!