school is back in session

Well, summer is officially over at our house. And I don't think I am quite as sad as I thought I'd be. After a fun-filled summer, I thought I'd really grieve the passing of this season, but as it turns out, I am actually happy that fall is just a few weeks away.

This was probably one of the best summers we have had in quite awhile. It started with our cruise to the Caribbean from Charleston (two of my favorite places on earth), a long stay at the beach, many days by the pool, and days at the lake on the boat that we bought with our business partners, David and Nicole, this summer. Anderson learned to water ski and knee board, and both boys enjoy tubing. When we were home, the boys participated in a golf league and worked on their golfing skills (which now officially far exceed my own). The summer ended with a birthday party for Bennett, who turned five, at Marbles Kids Museum.

Anderson's first day of school was August 4th, and Bennett's first day of preschool was today. So both boys are officially back in school, which in my mind means that summer is officially over. Anderson is a seventh grader, he's playing quarterback for his football team, and he is almost always a happy kid. Bennett is in pre-k (one more year before kindergarten), he just started playing soccer on a team at the Y, and he continues to surprise and amuse me on a daily basis.

Both boys make me laugh, actually. Anderson was entertaining me this morning by vividly describing what he calls "the annoying girls" in his class. He was explaining that two of the girls are always asking, "Do we look alike?" And if someone answers in the affirmative, they squeal and clap excitedly and hug and then exclaim in especially loud voices things like, "Oh my gosh, you have to come over this weekend to my house! Like, I'll ask my mom and text you tonight."

Thank God he finds them annoying for now. That won't last too much longer....

Bennett had me laughing to the point of tears yesterday when he had his "Meet the Teachers Day" at school. He politely and confidently shook hands with his lead teacher, smiled and exuded his usual charm. But when it came time to meet his music teacher, we rounded the corner to the music room when he suddenly leaped behind me and peered around my hips to take a second look at the teacher. This being very unlike his typical behavior, I started giggling and asking what in the world was going on. The teacher, sensing his hesitation, asks, "Do you want to see my puppets?" Bennett adamantly shook his head no but refused to come out from behind me. He just kept one eye peered around me and set on those two large puppets sitting in the teacher's lap. Needless to say, that was a short visit. When we left, I asked him what was wrong. He said, "I don't like those puppets. They mock me."

I swear the kid has to be older than five.

He was happy to go to school today, though he did happen to mention about 20 minutes after I picked him up from school that he did cry at one point today, not long after I dropped him off. He said the assistant came over and started reading him a book about a caterpillar, and the book had holes in it, so then he was happy.

Good to know. I hope these are the last tears shed at pre-k this year.

As for me, I realized today that I wasn't so sad that school has resumed. I do miss my boys when they aren't with me, but this is the first time in a long while that I will regularly have time to myself. And I didn't realize it until recently, but I've really been missing that. Don't get me wrong--I just need a few hours. I don't want the boys gone for too long. But I am soaking up every last second of it while I have it.

Today, school only lasted for two hours for Bennett as it was a "transition day" to get the kids accustomed to their class gradually. I spent those two hours going for a run, then a short walk, then I stopped by Starbucks to celebrate the fact that I was alone, stopped by to say hi to my mother--alone, which meant our conversation was actually uninterrupted, and returned to school to find a happy boy with the sweetest smile and the cutest dimples. And I remembered why I don't want him to be gone for too long.