my numbers are off. somehow i lost track of the weeks. i think my math was bad. i maybe messed up at the beginning. or the middle. or just now. high school calculus be damned, math never was my strong suit. and in the meantime, 10 weeks of summer have passed. the end seemed so much farther away at the beginning (i guess it always does?) i thought we would have accomplished so much more. had so much more fun. had more significance. but here we are. at the end of (schoolkid) summer. and i feel like there’s little amazing to show for it.
then i remembered life experience doesn’t follow a school calendar, a Roman calendar, an astrological one for that matter, or any structure any human set up. the amazing shit happens when you’re busy making other plans, they say. and sure enough, everything just seems to happen on its own timeline around here, no matter how much (or how little) we plan.
so here we are, at the first day of school again (way too early in my opinion!), leaving late nights behind for 6:30 wake-ups. leaving leisurely mornings behind for 7:07 school bus rides. swimsuits and sunscreen will be replaced by khaki shorts and white polos. no, you can’t wear your new school shoes until Wednesday has been the mantra for the past week. and the general, summer whatever goes will be replaced by . . . bwahahaha! probably a lot more of the same. interspersed with a lot of why is our house so crazy?! — i mean, we are who we are. but we try.
we went to the back-to-school night on Monday to meet the teacher (love her already!). i remembered to sign up for aftercare and a carpool number, but failed to sign up Miss Girl for a lunch account. where the eff was that table?? and yeah, the plan was to pack lunch in her new Minions lunch bag on Wednesday, regardless. let’s be honest: it might be the only time i pack lunch until October.
anyhoo . . . these are new challenges for a new chapter! let’s talk about what we learned in the past few weeks:
1. sometimes you just gotta live with it. the past few weeks saw some major drama in our neighborhood over parking and trees. things got ugly on the Facebooks. it took a big step back to try and balance advocacy and acceptance. and I still accept that some people are just idiots.
2. don’t sweat it. are you kidding me? Atlanta is insanely hot right now. I won’t lie. but. i witnessed 32% humidity on Sunday, which i’m gonna go ahead, 5 days in, and claim as Atlanta’s best day this month. ridiculous pool day. too bad i had to work. someone please tell me there are more of these coming.
3. early bloomers can’t be jack-o-lanterns. just like our peach tree fell short, our gargantuan pumpkin patch, well, didn’t produce. we picked the one pumpkin Friday. it was barely as big as my head. and also, was already leaking pumpkin juice. no hope for that young soul to fulfill his Halloween destiny. it’s a fact of life, y’all.
4. i still miss the beach. we’ve been home from vacation almost a month now and i can’t shake the urge to wear flip-flops to the office or find a deck chair to curl up in and read a book in. this too shall pass, i’m sure, but it seems to be taking way longer than usual this year and might become classified as an actual problem if it’s still with me come September.
5. somehow, it all always gets done. the summer has seemed insanely busy. between trips and camp and a really demanding work schedule the past few weeks, there have been times i’ve wanted to just give up on every having a clean house, paid bills and a few minutes to write. i feel like we’re on a downward trend of schedule sucking insanity and i think i see some light ahead. and you know what? somehow, nothing has fallen apart. it’s good to stop and remember that every once in a while.
6. i suck at weekly series. there. it’s out there. best laid plans and all. not saying i will never try again, but damn, i need to make a better plan before i even think about tackling one of these again!
hope y’all have had a great summer (or are still enjoying another month or so of it)!