Fresh Start

School is back in.

Visualize the following:  me doing  my best cheer impression of a really EXCITED, JAZZED, and MOTIVATED cheer leader complete with sparkly poms poms, and a huge ponytail that extends from the middle of my noggin, and cascades down my cheeks as tho it is a water fountain, as I belt out:

"GOODBYE, GOODBYE!!!  Have a great DAY!  Lord, please stay with Abby and Bella as they navigate on their bikes, so they find their WAY!"

I do a round off, raise my pom poms, adjust my cheer leading skirt, and continue:

"EMMA, EMMA!!  The big Walsh sis on campus, fourth grader so COOL, throw me a bone, and do well in SCHOOL!"

I now do a series of cartwheels, with sparklers whizzing behind me, as I tuck into a somersault, pony tail untouched:

"COSETTE, COSETTE, she's our GIRL!  Time to give Kindergarten another WHIRL!"  ( A full blog will be devoted to this at a later time :)

The twins start middle school at 8:05 AM and are released at 3:00 PM.  That's because they don't have a 7th period.  If they did have a 7th period, they'd be home by dark...which is fine by me. But Wednesday is LATE START, and school doesn't begin until 9:15 AM.

As they rode their bikes tandem, down our street and away from me for their very first day in the 6th grade, I had all of these random thoughts:   Don't lose the 20 bucks I gave each of you to buy PE clothes; ride your bikes safely, making sure to look before you cross; lock your bikes so they don't get stolen, and in your free time,  think about  maybe getting a locker.  I started to record them riding away and out of sight, but had to stop when I felt a lump rise up in my throat, and tears fill my eye sockets.

Emma starts school at 8:15 AM and is dismissed at 2:18 PM.  WTF, right?  WHY 2:18? !!!  How bout we round up to 2:15, or down to 2:20?  No people, it's 2:18.  Big sis, Em, is in charge of picking up Cosette from Kinder...but Cozy will be hanging out awhile, because...

Cosette starts Kindergarten at 8:25 AM and is dismissed at 2:08 PM.  EXCEPT for the first 2 weeks.  She gets out at 11:47 AM, so she can successfully transition into Kindergarten.  Well, that doesn't buy me a whole lotta time does it?  And then I gotta double back to get Emma, who gets out at 2:18 PM...not a minute sooner or later.  Are you taking notes?

Last night, Bella says to me in sort of a quiet way, "Mom, I feel like I need to tell you something."

"Okay, babe.  What is it?"

She continues, looking rather forlorn, "Well, all the kids at school...they use really bad words, Mom.  Like you know how you say it when you're  really mad?"

I nod yes, solemnly.

"Mom, they just say those bad words to say them.  Why do they do that Mom?   Do you think I should say something to them?"

"OH NO, honey!  Don't say anything," I practically yelled at her to prevent her from becoming a moving target.  "You know, this is middle school now.  Some kids think that using those words makes them sound cool, or older.  They are trying to appear to be independent."

"Well, I want you to know Mom...I am NOT going to say those words."

Good!   I hope to God you share these same feelings about consuming excessive amounts of alcohol and participating in premarital sex when you're older.  WOW!  That Little House on the Prairie show does wonders!

"That's good, honey.  Don't be like Mama that way."

You know how the teachers send home the notes that say "tell me about your child" the first week of school? On Emma's note, I wrote, "Emma needs to be pushed.  She's a smart cookie."  I think she may be getting ready to have her world rocked.  But she is totally capable of excelling.

Cosette is repeating Kindergarten.  Cosette turns 6 this Saturday.  Cosette was a really young Kinder last year.  It's just too early to tell if she has a learning challenge, or she was just young.  But you know how I feel?  There's absolutely no shame in having her repeat because it's WAY better than having her move on and fail miserably at everything she attempts.  This in turn, leads to hating school and thinking you suck.  Can you tell I've been down this road before?        

Just between you and I, I love Cosette's teacher, Mrs.Brown.  She is organized, well-tempered, and she requests very LITTLE parent participation in the classroom.  That's because this lady knows what the hell she's doing, and I LIKE it!  Partly, because I'm selfish with my time.  But she also totally gives the appearance that she has shit under control.  She has a "Thinking Chair", and I'm under the impression that she won't hesitate to use it.   I don't care what anyone else says about you...I LOVE YOU GAYLE BROWN.          

Oh, and Charlotte?  She is on the BRINK of crawling...I've got maybe a day or 2 left before she will be completely high alert.  In fact, just the other day, I walked in after her nap to find that she had eaten an entire box of Kleenex.  Daddy lowered the crib that night.

While it's hard to believe that summer has come to an end, I think our girls are going to have a really good year!