Back to school again

I just realized it's been more than three weeks since I last wrote a post. I guess we've been busy. After our vacation, we had just a few days until middle school began, and that was a very exciting time. I remember how huge the transition to junior high school was, back in the day. I remember sitting around with my friends, talking and talking and talking, and every so often someone would scream, "gym suits!" or "lockers!" and we would all scream too. After seven years of elementary school, it was such a huge change.

The boys only went to elementary school for six years, since middle school begins in 6th grade and they didn't go to preschool. But still, such a long time of walking down our street to and from school. Kid A asserted his independence early, and would zoom off on his bike by himself. But Kid B liked having one of us walk him to school and he also liked being picked up at the end of the day, so we kept doing that through the end of 5th grade. Often we would just walk quietly, but sometimes he liked to talk, and it was nice to be there when that happened.

Now it's all different, though they still walk down our street to get to school. But now they turn off at the creek path and walk to their bus stop on Martin Drive -- and I am not allowed to accompany them. I went with them on the first day of school, and a few other days early on, but after that they laid down the law. Other kids wait at the bus stop too, and nobody's parents are there. Way too embarrassing. So I stay home. I am not allowed to meet their bus in the late afternoon, either. It's nice, not having to interrupt what I'm doing, but I'm also getting less exercise. It's kind of like when they got too big for their stroller. Pushing the stroller I could go anywhere, long lovely walks. But once they were out and running around, I stopped walking nearly so much.

Adjusting to middle school is full of challenges. For instance, that bus! For the first two weeks the bus was late every day -- scheduled to leave their stop at 8:21, it wasn't getting there until 8:30 or later, and the kids would get to school (which starts at 8:40) after the bell rang. A couple of times they were marked absent in their 1st period class. I called the Transportation department repeatedly and eventually they got the problem fixed. But now the bus comes early! On Friday the kids actually missed the bus, even though I'm sure they were there before 8:15 (its new departure time), and they had to run home and have me drive them. So now we've decided they'll leave to walk to the bus at 8, which should solve the problem.

Another middle school issue involves Kid B's hair, which he's worn long for a few years. In P.E. class he was told he'd have to tie it back, so we experimented with scrunchies, but he had a hard time doing it himself. Each day another kid would have to help him, and he didn't like that. "I want to get my hair cut," he told me. I was shocked, but hey, maybe he was ready for a change. So I took him to my stylist, who's cut his hair before, and she did a quick and dirty layered cut that had kind of a long feel but was much shorter than it had been (see photo). He went back to P.E. class the next day -- and was told to tie it back! This is when I freaked out and started writing emails. A few days later, after involving the counselor, the assistant principal, and the gym teacher, I learned that the real issue was hair getting in his eyes, which the gym teacher feels is a safety issue. My stylist had cut his bangs a little too long. So I took out my sewing scissors and hacked away at it, and now he's "legal" for P.E. It looks pretty bad, though. We need to go back for a repair trim. But he doesn't seem terribly concerned about it. I guess middle school boys don't care that much about their looks -- or maybe not yet?

We've also been having cat problems -- sweet Chester has a bladder infection, a drug-resistant bug that requires treatment with Clindamycin (the other choices have worse side effects). I paid an enormous amount of money to have the drug formulated into soft chicken-flavored chews, and the medicine took a long time to arrive, but Chester likes it, so maybe he'll get better. Silly Fluff, thinks he's getting special treats twice a day. Pie Bear soldiers on, despite his oral tumor -- which can't feel good, but he doesn't complain. He likes to spend a lot of time outdoors, mostly observing the world from the soft chair on our front porch. He's also my alarm clock -- sleeps on Rocket Boy's empty side of the bed and begins walking on me and purring a few minutes before my real alarm goes off. This is helpful on weekdays and very very sad on Saturdays and Sundays, when there is no real alarm.

Rocket Boy came for another visit over Labor Day (see photo up above -- everyone in a warm-toned shirt except the unseen Mom, who was wearing blue and white stripes). It wasn't one of our better visits. He flew in late Saturday afternoon, after I had spent six hours cleaning the house. But he's forgotten what our house looks like. Sometimes I wonder if he's remembering when his mother was alive and it was spotless. I don't know. Anyway, when he walked in the door he started talking about the mess. And all weekend he kept going on and on about it. He seemed to be in a critical mood just in general -- in the McGuckin's parking lot he yelled at me for being too timid, and later for not parking in the space he thought was best. On the plus side, he fixed some things (such as our back door which wouldn't open -- a real safety hazard) and cleaned some things, such as the horrid shower curtain. I appreciated the help and told him so. I'm not, after all, the maid -- we both have jobs, we co-own this house, and it's his responsibility too.

After he left, or actually while he was packing to go, I fell into a depression from which I have not yet emerged. It will get better, I think -- it doesn't feel like the beginning of something really serious -- but it's so hard to function when I feel like this. Work is hard. Cooking is hard (cooking is always hard). Cleaning is hard.

Fortunately, today is Saturday and it is a lovely day. Supposed to get to 87 -- better than the 90s we've been having, but not by much -- but there's a nice breeze. I did my laundry and have several things hanging out on the porch, waving in the wind. The neighborhood pancake breakfast was this morning, so of course we went. I ate one pancake with delicious fresh peach compote and an odd vegetarian sausage. After the kids finished eating they asked if they could go to the library by themselves and of course I said yes. They go in order to play games on the computers there, but I still love it that they're spending so much time at the library, which seems a very safe place for them to be. And I walked home in the warm breezy weather, feeling not too bad at all.