I’m having one of those super productive days where I feel like I can do anything. So far I have:
- visited the grocery store, the bank, the drugstore, a hardware store, a Large Evil Bargain Department Store, and the mall, where I hit up several sales, all part of today’s Festival of Errands;
- completely reorganized the playroom, which involved bringing up a whole wall unit from the basement and assembling it (using power tools, y’all, ’cause that’s how I roll);
- cut up four enormous boxes that came with our new shed in preparation for recycling day tomorrow (using a sharp knife/tool thing, because that’s how I roll);
- washed, dried, and folded five loads of laundry, and also changed the sheets on the beds; and
- assembled the loot bags for Gal Smiley’s birthday party next weekend, including making custom name tags for each one.
All that in addition to the usual daily grind of making lunches, doing dishes, wiping bums, and walking all over hell’s creation to pick up kids and drop them at other people’s houses (more on that some other time).
Hear me roar. In fact, I will even treat you to a photo of my new super organized playroom, because that’s how I roll:
This is all in marked contrast to last Friday, which was Little Miss Sunshine’s first day of JK. I came home to an empty house and literally did not know what to do with myself. I put away a little laundry, unloaded the dishwasher, then just stood in the middle of the kitchen with a blank look in my eyes.
It felt too decadent to do something for myself, like reading or surfing, but I didn’t want to start a major project from my to-do list because it was Friday, and I wasn’t inspired to do any writing. Even now I cannot account for about two hours in there. I guess I was just blissed out on the joy of being alone.
People keep asking me if I am sad or wistful or teary-eyed about the Little Miss starting JK. In actually fact I’m pretty happy about it. It’s only 2 1/2 hours a day, so I still get plenty of one-on-one time with her and we have lots of fun events and classes and playdates planned for this year. Plus, she’s really ready to go, and I’m really ready to have two hours a day to focus on some Life Projects For Me, so it’s win-win.
What really got to me last Friday, though, was that we were all five of us walking to school together, happily as a family. But because the Little Miss is a slow walker, and we had to take her around to the front of the school to the Kindergarten entrance, Sir Monkeypants told the older two that they could run on ahead as soon as we were within sight of the school.
So the Captain was all, “Now, Dad? Now can I go? How about now? NOW?” And seriously, it was all I could do not to grab him and tell him NO, it is not time to go, not now, NOT EVER in a very creepy Carrie’s-Mother kind of way. THEY’LL NEVER TAKE MY BABY.
The minute the school was in sight he took off, but he got tired of running so ended up walking about 30 feet ahead of us the rest of the way, so it’s not like he vanished or anything. And yet.
And yet.
He’s only eight, and already I’m struggling to keep up. It can’t quite be time to go, can it?
TurtleHead 
Wow, Little Miss is in JK. Time really does fly! I know. My oldest is 10 now. !) (that is 10 in caps!!!) LOL, It has been over a month and i still can’t get over it.
Wow – that’s a nice looking playroom. Perhaps we should add “Home Organizers” to our list of possible entrepreneurships? I’m pretty kick-ass at organizing and crossing things off the to-do list…when the mood strikes me of course.
You are preaching to the choir, woman. First, I am incredibly impressed with your productivity. I just put almost a year’s worth of photos in the album. I would have gotten the whole year’s worth but I ran out of album space. And that is all I have done of note today. It’s my youngest’s sixth birthday and I spent a not-inconsiderable amount of time looking at baby pictures and watching videos of them when they were small. Then I stared out the window for a while. I AM SO MELANCHOLY. My kids are so huge. They are next thing to leaving the nest, it feels like.
This is exactly how I feel. And they are all still in the primary grades, for heaven’s sake. I really need to get some hobbies!
I don’t plan to ever let go. Not totally anyway.
Me neither, but does that make us weird? If so, so be it!
I’m guessing JK is…preschool? Nursery school? Yes? Sorry, am lame American over here. (Barely! Seattle keeps trying to defect to BC, but you won’t take us.)
Anyhow, it sounds like what you need is…another baby! 😀 (That might be me projecting my own emotions about preschool.)
JK is Junior Kindergarten – here in Ontario we have two years of kindergarten starting when your kid turns 4. So she’s at the big school with my older kids, with her own smaller separate play yard, going every morning.
I have to say I’ve been wistful around a few babies lately. Thank heavens we already sold the crib or there might be some ill-advised choices going on around here.
Never fear: as my sister the nurse told me years ago, the umbillical cord is made of bungee cord! And she’s a trained professional!
I told Eve that Little Miss is in JK and she’s giggling thinking about how she took off on you when it was time to leave when you were here, and imagining the teacher saying “sit down Little Miss Sunshine” and LMS saying “I don’t WANT to sit down” and taking off down the hall. I loved Eve’s kindergarten days too – just enough time to do a couple of things and then time with my littlest. It was quite blissful.
Also, that playroom is a friggin’ thing of beauty.
Starting this week both boys will be in school for 2.5 hours each, everyday. They only overlap for 1.5 hours but that’s 7.5 hours a week more than I’ve had in years and years 😀 Bring on the projects!
Yesterday Evan said, “Mommy when I’m a grown up, I won’t need you and Daddy anymore.” He didn’t imply it, but I know he thinks that’s like tomorrow, or maybe next week, at the latest. He’s three going on thirty. It’s all going too fast, except when it moves unbearably slowly.