A Back To School Poem

In the style of William Carlos Williams

THIS IS JUST TO SAY

I drank
half a bottle
of wine
before dinner

and now
I’m going
straight to
the gym

Forgive me
the boys aren’t napping at school
so exhausted
and so batshit crazy

Big Summer Blowout

Barely any time at the beach, barely any time at the pool, yet the summer of 2014 still ended as rapidly as any summer I’ve ever experienced.  It’s tricky to find that balance between letting kids be adaptable so you can have adventures (skip naps and eat junk) and letting them get the amount of rest and normalcy that is necessary for things to actually fun (no nuclear meltdowns.)  One day I informed everyone that we were going to a store and Rush said, “If we leave this house I WILL FREAK OUT IN THE STORE.”  Um, okay, you win.  We’ll say home all day. 

We did cram in as much excitement possible into the last summer weekend.

Rush and Tate have been begging to visit Trent’s new office since February, so we used the final weekday of the summer to join him for lunch.

Saturday night was our impromptu end of summer family party, complete with grilling and sweating on the back porch until we ate inside.

Trent exists within a cooking world based, as far as I can figure out, on the Top Chef finale:  No rules other than make a delicious meal.  It’s fun to eat what he brings home when he occasionally runs to the grocery store, but it’s best not to look at the receipt since he admittedly does not look at prices.  Me:  How much was this huge box of cherry tomatoes?  Trent:  Uh, I think $3.  Yeah, I go to the grocery store all the time and there is no way all those tomatoes were $3.  Me:  How much butter/olive oil did you put in this?  Trent:  Not much.  It’s like Pop’s cream gravy- just enjoy it and be sure not to watch him pull out his grease jar to make it.

I know I’m not the only straight woman who sometimes wishes I could have been a lesbian.  Because I assume that Saturday nights as a lesbian would basically be spent painting my nails with my best friend while drinking Dr. Pepper and watching Can’t Hardly Wait.  My husband, on the other hand, REFUSED to watch Can’t Hardly Wait, opting instead to spend his evening on Google SketchUp.  He did end up staying up with me until 1 AM to watch a movie I’ve seen a thousand times but totally love, Something’s Got To Give.   I love that movie in spite of not understanding the casting of Jack Nicholson as a man that younger women are attracted to.  An older man, sure.  But Jack Nicholson?  I mean, he’s no Kyle Chandler.  Wait, Kyle Chandler isn’t that old…he’s no Richard Dryfus.

Summer really ends around seven on the night before school starts.  Once seven hits, it’s baths, the double checking of backpacks and getting ready for bed.  We spent the final hours of the summer swimming  at a friend’s house with old friends and new friends, the very most perfect way to end the summer.   

Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose

A fair number of our loved ones told me they were teary eyed yesterday when they saw pictures of Rush on his first day of kindergarten.  You know who wasn’t crying?  This guy-

You know who else wasn’t crying?  Me.  If you had lived with him for the past few weeks, you wouldn’t have cried either.  Talk about being ready-he’s moving on.  I can’t be too sad about the little-boy-at-home-with-me stage of his life being over, because it is over, school starting or not.  If my darling, sweet Rush had not been starting school this year, I would have had to find work for him as a farm hand or possibly a position on a whaling ship. 

He got up, got dressed, brushed his teeth, combed his hair and came downstairs ready to go, a little nervous but generally excited.  He came home a new bus riding man, already content to tell us that he had a great day while withholding most details.  We’re trying to pry some info out of him. 

Tate is the one having a rough time.  Last night at dinner when we were saying the best parts of our days, Tate kept repeating, “I just have nothing to say.”  Finally he said, “I just missed Rush, okay!?”  Then this morning after we took Rush to school, I asked him about missing Rush yesterday and his response was, “I miss Rush right now.”  It was about 8:15 in the morning.  It’s probably not helping Tate that his school class is almost all girls.  He enjoys playing ladies man to some extent, but I think he could use another buddy or two.  He’s not too excited about the new school year, but I’m not above a Shipley’s bribe to help him through the first week.

It will be fun to see what kind of relationship develops between these two, now freed from the tyranny of the past few weeks.  Ah, the fresh start of a new school year.  I’m so ready, I don’t even mind football season sneaking up behind me.

Come Mister Tally Man

First of all, who edits this blog?  Correction:  the previous title should have read “Like Being a Slave and Having a Slave” but I’m not going back to correct it.  Chaos perfectly preserved.  “Having Three Kids is Like Having a Brain and Krimphgiiiiiii.”

Moving forward-

On a whim a few years ago, because it was a beautiful day in November and plants were 70% off all over town, we bought a banana tree.  One tiny little tree took off and multiplied. 

Tonight was the harvest!

Tate, resident monkey, just loaded some apples on top of the bunch in an attempt to hasten the ripening process.  Soon we’ll dine like chimpanzees!*

*Please note, monkeys and chimpanzees are not the same.  Do NOT make that mistake asking directions at the zoo or you will be chastised. 

Like Being a Save and Having a Slave

About once a year, the 364 days of staying up too late catch up with me.  I put the kids to bed and walk out of their room intending to do something with my evening, yet somehow instead pass out on my own bed on top of the covers with my clothes on and sleep like that all night.  I guess my catch up for 2014 was last night. 

Right after we got married, within the first month or two, Trent and I decided that marriage is like being a slave and having a slave.  We’ve said that for the past ten years, still true.  We’re generally amazed that we discovered on of the fundamental truths of marriage so quickly.

So thank you Trent for folding four loads of laundry last night.  I guess on Friday night I’ll be the one scrubbing the remains of nachos of the cookie sheets while you fall asleep on the couch.

Heating Up The House

We spent an entire afternoon in the kitchen baking cookies and making flatbreads to go with veggie soup for dinner.  No bickering, no fighting, no crying- it was one of the best afternoons EVER.